Begin
by Princess Oats 435
Summary: What if Kirsten had been the first one to meet Ryan? What would be different, and what would still be the same?
1. Begin

I promise that I'm not giving up on my other fic, but this idea popped into my head and I couldn't get it out. So…please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't so much own the characters.

* * *

Kirsten placed her earring into her ear and studied her reflection in the mirror. She peered closer and frowned at the lines around her eyes. She knew, rationally, that those were laugh lines, and that their existence proved that she had smiled and laughed a lot during her thirty-seven years, and that was a good thing. But she couldn't help but wish that they weren't so deep, so noticeable.

"Hey honey, have you seen my sunglasses?" Her husband's voice interrupted her scrutiny and she turned from the mirror to face him.

"No I haven't," Kirsten answered as she pulled herself completely away from the mirror to grab her suit jacket.

"You look beautiful," Sandy complimented. Kirsten was amazed that after all of these years, his compliments still surprised her, and still made her blush. And were always incredibly well-timed.

"I'm getting old," she whined as she crossed over to him.

"You are not getting old," he replied wrapping his arms around her. Before she could argue back that she was, indeed, getting old, Seth's voice interrupted her.

"Mom!" Sandy placed a kiss on her forehead as she pulled away.

"And you aren't getting old," he said as she walked out of the room. "You are only in your thirties."

"Late thirties," Kirsten reminded as she descended the stairs. Seth was standing in the living room, his skateboard next to him, and his back pack slung over one shoulder.

"I need you to sign this permission slip," he said holding it out for her to take.

"Permission for what?" Kirsten asked, taking the paper and scanning over it quickly.

"Field trip," Seth said disdainfully. Never had those two words been said with such venom, Kirsten thought. She, like most other kids, had loved field trips when she was younger. Seth, on the other hand, hated them. It broke her heart that Seth's high school experience was turning out to be nothing like hers.

"Where to?" Kirsten asked as she reached down into her briefcase that was resting up against the hall table and quickly signed her name to the bottom of the sheet of paper.

"To some play," Seth said shrugging. "It's for English. At least everyone will have assigned seats, and not be able to talk for a couple hours. It's better than when they took us to the museum." Kirsten winced at the memory of an eleven-year-old Seth coming home from the field trip to the natural history museum. He had walked in, slammed the door, and headed straight up to his bedroom, ignoring her when she had asked how it was. When she went up to his bedroom, she found him lying on his bed, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed.

"Seth? What happened?"

"Nothing," Seth had said rolling over so that he wasn't facing her.

"Seth Ezekiel, what happened today?"

"You promise you won't call the school?" Kirsten hated to make that promise, but she knew that the last time Sandy had called to complain, Seth had been absolutely mortified, and hadn't talked to either of his parents for weeks.

"I promise," she said hoping that it wasn't something too terrible.

"It was just…stupid Luke and his minions. We were walking through the dinosaur exhibit, and I was hanging back a little, looking at T-Rex, cause he's the best one, you know?" Kirsten nodded, and Seth continued. "And next thing I know, they have me hanging upside down over top of the garbage can and then I'm face down in a pile of trash." Seth's eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill again, and Kirsten placed her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

"Why did they…do that?" Kirsten asked softly, running a hand through Seth's unruly hair. Seth shrugged.

"When I asked them that, they said that because it was my punishment for existing. And they were bored, and dinosaurs were, in Chip's words, 'for stupid queers.'"

That was the last time that Seth looked forward to a field trip, or anything school related for that matter.

"Maybe it won't be that bad," Kirsten offered, handing him back the permission slip.

"Yeah right," Seth scoffed. Kirsten fought the urge to reach out and hold her son. He had long been in a stage where he hadn't wanted any sort of physical contact from either parent.

"Do you want a ride to school?" Kirsten asked reaching for her briefcase and keys.

"No," Seth said. He shoved the paper in his back pack and waved his hand in goodbye and disappeared down the driveway on his skateboard. Kirsten sighed and headed into the kitchen to pour herself some coffee.

"What did he need?" Sandy asked as he continued the search for his sunglasses.

"Permission slip signed," Kirsten answered. She sighed.

"What's the matter honey?" Sandy asked, momentarily abandoning his hunt.

"I just…I don't know what to do about him," Kirsten sighed. "I feel like it's my fault."

"It's not."

"I could have done something more to help him fit in or…I don't know."

"You couldn't have," Sandy assured her. "He's okay. He's just a teenager, and going through a rough time."

"A rough time?" Kirsten repeated. "This rough time has been going on since we moved here ten years ago." Kirsten had long come to grips with the fact that this wasn't just a phase that Seth was going through.

"Well, we can reopen the boarding school discussion," Sandy suggested and was hit with a glare from Kirsten.

"You know how I feel about boarding schools," she said. "I just…I don't want him to think that we are just giving up on him. What does that say to him? To everyone else? We don't know what to do with you honey, so we're going to send you away until you aren't a surly teenager any more."

"We're doing the best we can," Sandy told her. Kirsten nodded, not looking convinced, but giving up on the subject for the time being.

"So do you have to go into court today?"

"No," Sandy said shaking his head. "Not today. What's on your schedule?"

"Well, my dad just landed that new development deal in Chino, and he's insisting that I be there today at the press conference at five." She had argued with him, reminding him that she was in charge of residential developments and this certainly didn't qualify in that category, but once her father had it in his head the way something was supposed to go, it was very hard to talk him out of it. And this was no exception. So she was off to Chino today. "And I was thinking that I could stop by afterwards and we could get dinner? I left Seth some money for a pizza."

"That sounds wonderful," Sandy said leaning to give her a kiss. "Call me after your press conference."

"Okay," Kirsten replied returning the kiss.

"Be careful down there today," he warned. "Stick with your dad." Kirsten rolled her eyes at him, and gave him another kiss before pulling away. His concern was genuine, and she was reminded what a great guy she was married to, but she sincerely doubted that anything would happen with all the news crews around. But Sandy was a worrier. A worrier and a protector, and there was nothing she could do about it. "I mean it Kirsten."

"Okay," she repeated. "I'll be careful. I'll call you. I have to go." She grabbed her coffee and gave him a little wave as she headed out the door.

* * *

The construction workers were already there and had already started even though they hadn't yet broken ground on the new project. Caleb had wanted the press conference to be in the evening, but hadn't wanted to waste any time with getting started.

"Time is money," he reminded Kirsten. So the construction crews were already starting to pour the concrete for the foundation when they arrived. Kirsten and her father had arrived together, and Caleb had done all the talking at the press conference, as Kirsten stood behind and smiled. After Caleb had cut the ribbon on the project, he and Kirsten got a little tour of the grounds. Kirsten thought that this was a little ridiculous and unnecessary, as nothing had been done yet. It was pretty much just an empty lot with a hunk of concrete in the middle.

"And here's where the front entrance will be," the man who owned the construction company was giving the tour, and he pointed to the area across from what looked to be an extremely shady liquor store. His phone went off, and he smiled apologetically at Kirsten and Caleb before answering. "I'm sorry," he said after hanging up. "There's a slight emergency at another sight. Ryan! Come here!" The boy that he was calling over came trotting to the little group. Kirsten bit back the urge to gasp. This construction worker was no more than a child. He looked to be about Seth's age. She struggled to imagine Seth having to work somewhere like this.

"Yes?" Ryan asked politely.

"This is Mr. Nichol, and his daughter, Mrs. Cohen. They own the Newport Group, can you handle any questions that they have? Just show them around." He waved his hand at the nearly empty lot, and hurried off.

"I'm done here," Caleb said. "Kiki, I'm assuming you can get home okay?" Kirsten nodded, and Caleb walked away.

"Do you have any questions?" Ryan asked. Kirsten went to shake her head, but curiosity got the better of her.

"How long have you worked for Mr. Douglas?" Kirsten asked.

"Um, I worked for him for the past couple summers, and he just gave me a full time job a few weeks ago."

"How old are you?" Kirsten blurted out, and then felt stupid for asking such a personal question. "I'm sorry. I didn't…You don't have to give me a tour of an empty lot. You can go back to doing whatever you were doing. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"No, its okay, I was just about to go home," Ryan said shrugging.

"Then go home," Kirsten said smiling at him. "It was nice to meet you Ryan."

"You too Mrs. Cohen," Ryan looked awfully relieved to not have to answer her last question, and he quickly walked away from her. She pulled out her phone and started towards the car, calling Sandy.

"Hey, honey it's me," she said into the phone as she searched her purse for her keys.

"Hey, how was the press conference?"

"Boring as usual. I stood behind and smiled. I know now what it feels like to be a politician's wife." Sandy laughed.

"Are you still coming to meet me for dinner?"

"I would love that," Kirsten said smiling, she balanced the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she rooted through her purse. "Should I come to your office?" Before he could answer, Kirsten felt strong hands grab her roughly from behind. He pulled her between two buildings, and covered her mouth with his hand.

"Hey pretty thing. Drop the phone." Kirsten felt so stupid for parking near an empty alley, as it was nearing dusk.

"Kirsten?" She could hear Sandy's voice as she dropped the phone to the ground.

"Please. Take my purse, don't hurt me," Kirsten pleaded. She knew that Sandy could hear this and was calling the police, but she wasn't so naïve to think that that they could get there in time. She was so stupid. Sandy had even warned her to be careful. With one swift move, the man had her pinned up against the wall, and she winced when her head made contact with the bricks behind her. She groaned, and tried to protest when he began pulling her skirt up her legs. He had a knife that was pressing into her exposed stomach so hard that it was drawing blood, and she saw it drip down onto her white skirt.

"Hey, let her go!" She couldn't see who was talking, but the next thing she knew, the man had loosened his grip on her and she tumbled to the ground. She tried to get up, but got too dizzy and had to close her eyes and sit back down. She heard the sound of sirens, just as she felt gently hands wrap themselves around her arms helping her stand up, and a soft voice ask,

"Mrs. Cohen? Are you okay? The police are on their way."

* * *

Okay, so I already have the next chapter written, but I'll only post it if you like it. Review and let me know what you thought! Thanks! 


	2. White knights

Thank you so much for the reviews! I wrote this chapter, and then completely erased it. And then rewrote and then erased it again, so I hope that it's up to par. Review please and let me know what you thought. I'm off to a baseball game. This is exciting to me for two reasons: one, and most importantly, there's cotton candy at baseball games (I once ran through three sections of the stadium chasing down the cotton candy man). Secondly, and this is pathetic but true, I'm a sucker for jumbo-trons. I watch that more than I watch the game. I could care less about the actual game. So whilst I enjoy my cotton candy, go forth and enjoy the latest chapter.

Disclaimer: the characters are not mine.

* * *

"Mrs. Cohen? Are you hurt?" Ryan repeated. She wasn't answering, and she was shaking uncontrollably. Ryan hoped that the damn police would hurry up, the guy lying on the ground wasn't going to stay unconscious very much longer, and when he did wake up, he was most certainly going to be pissed.

"I'm…yes, I'm okay," Kirsten finally managed.

"You're bleeding," Ryan noticed. "Did you get hurt anywhere else?"

"I…uh, hit my head," Kirsten said placing a hand to the back of her throbbing head. Ryan gently led her away from her currently unconscious attacker and outonto the sidewalkwhere they were met with the lights from the stores across from them, and from the dingy street lampsabove. They only were there for a moment beforethe police cruiserpulled up in front of them,and one of the officers hopped out and grabbed Ryan and pulled him away from her.

"Are you Kirsten Cohen?"

"Yes, what are you doing? He didn't do anything wrong! He helped me," Kirsten explained. She pointed back towards the alley. "He knocked out the guy who attacked me."

"Do you need a paramedic?" The second cop asked as the first went to collect the man in the alley.

"Yes she does," Ryan spoke up. "You probably have a concussion, Mrs. Cohen." Just as Kirsten was about to argue that she was fine, Sandy's car came into view, and came screeching to a halt behind the cop car. Sandy didn't even bother turning off the car as he made a mad dash to his wife.

"Kirsten! Are you okay?" He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. When he pulled away to study her, he noticed the blood. "You're bleeding! What happened? We need to get you to a hospital." Kirsten knew that there was no way that she would get out of going to the hospital now. Not with Sandy in full rambling, overprotective mode.

"This is your assailant ma'am?" The first cop said pulling along a man in handcuffs.

"Yes," Kirsten said nodding, remembering his hands pulling her skirt roughly up, and shuddered thinking of how close she came to being raped, or maybe even worse. Sandy's arm, draped protectively around her shoulders, squeezed tighter when he felt her shudder underneath.

"We'll need statements from both of you," the cop said to her and Ryan.

"Yeah, sure," Ryan said, wishing suddenly that he had just gone straight home after work, and then immediately feeling guilty for thinking that.

"After she goes to the hospital," Sandy said in a tone that left no room for argument. A tone that he had used on Seth on a number of occasions. A tone that Kirsten knew well.

"Yeah, of course," the second cop said. "We'll send an officer over."

"Thank you," Kirsten said softly. She wanted to apologize to the officers, apologize to this young man who saved her, apologize to her husband for being so thoughtless. What did she think was going to happen when she parked her Range Rover in front of a dark alley in a not so good part of town? But she kept her mouth shut and just allowed Sandy to look her over once again, as if reassuring himself that she was standing there with him, not completely unharmed, but okay for the most part.

The officers loaded the guy into the back of the cop car and then the first one turned back to Ryan. Ryan was standing off to the side, his hands stuck in his pockets.

"Sir, can you come with us to the station to make your statement?"

"Uh, sure," Ryan said starting to follow the cop.

"Wait!" Kirsten said stepping out from Sandy's grip, and placing a hand on Ryan's arm. "I…just wanted to thank you." She pulled on Sandy's arm. Ryan was staring at his feet, his hands stuck in his pockets. "This is Ryan. He…well, I guess, he saved me." Sandy reached his hand out to Ryan, who looked taken aback, and hesitated only momentarily before taking Sandy's hand in his own and giving it a shake.

"Thank you so much Ryan," Sandy said. "I don't know what I would have done if something would have happened to her."

"It was no problem," Ryan said softly looking down at his feet.

"There has to be something that we can do to make it up to you," Sandy said looking at Kirsten for some idea.

"No, that's not necessary," Ryan said shaking his head. "It was nothing."

"It was not nothing," Kirsten argued. "He had a knife! You could have been killed. You stood up to him, you helped me! That's not…nothing…please let me make it up to you. Can we…can we buy you dinner tomorrow?" Ryan wanted to argue that he didn't need anything, but he could tell that these people, these Cohens, they weren't going to take no for an answer, and besides that, he hadn't eaten a good meal in days. Not since the last time that Teresa had invited him over for dinner. His mother was having a bad couple of weeks, which meant that the only thing in the house was alcohol, and a moldy loaf of bread. More than likely, he wouldn't be eating anything substantial the next day either, unless he took these people up on their offer.

"I don't…"

"Please?" Kirsten pleaded. "Please let us buy you dinner." Ryan gave a small, nearly imperceptible nod, and Kirsten beamed.

"Can we come pick you up after work tomorrow?" Kirsten asked. "Around six?"

"Yeah...uh, that's fine," Ryan said. "I'm glad that you are okay."

"We'll see you tomorrow then," Sandy said before placing an arm on the small of Kirsten's back and leading her to his waiting car.

* * *

A few hours later, after Kirsten was checked over and her statement was given to the cops, she and Sandy headed back out of the hospital to her car. Kirsten just wanted to get home and curl up in bed and sleep the night off.

"How are we going to get my car home?" Kirsten asked as Sandy held open the door for her. Ryan had been right, she had a concussion, which meant that she couldn't drive her own car home.

"We'll have to get it tomorrow," Sandy said. "Now, we're going to take you home, tuck you into bed, and have a fun night of waking you up every hour." He shut the door and got into the driver's side. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Kirsten's phone rang and she glanced down at it.

"Seth," she said as she opened it up to answer. "Hello?"

"Mom? Where are you guys? You said that you would be home by now," Seth said in one breath. It wasn't like his parents to not be home when they said they would be. They were almost compulsive about it, and so when they didn't show up two hours after they said they would, Seth had started to worry. Seth often shrugged off his parents' affection, but they were all that he had, and though he wouldn't admit it, he had started to panic when they weren't picking up their phones. He had called his grandfather, who hadn't heard from them, and then he had gotten so desperate, that he even called the Coopers wondering if maybe they had stopped there after dinner. He doubted it, but he had been running out of ideas.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. We meant to call. There was…I had…there was a little bit of an…incident, and Dad was worried, so he took me to the hospital."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, honey, I'm okay. A mild concussion."

"What happened?" Sandy motioned for her to give him the phone, and she handed it over wordlessly.

"Seth? It's Dad. We'll explain when we get home…she's okay Seth. No…really…why would I lie? Well, I suppose that's true…no, no! I'm not lying! She's okay. You talked to her yourself. No…Okay. We'll be home as soon as we can…okay. Love you kiddo." He hung up the phone and handed it back to Kirsten.

"He's worried about me?" She asked resting her head back against the back of the seat.

"He's not the only one," Sandy muttered. "Why don't you close your eyes and get some sleep? I'll wake you up when we get home." Kirsten went to open her mouth to protest, but she felt too exhausted to argue, and just did as she was told.

* * *

Kirsten called off work the next morning, and an irate Caleb demanded to know why he wasn't told of what had happened the night before.

"You should have called me Kirsten," Caleb berated. "Seth called looking for you. Didn't you realize that I would be then wondering where you were, and if you were okay? Didn't you think that I would like some sort of conformation that my daughter is still alive and well? And besides that, you should have called before Seth. I would have liked to have been informed when it happened."

"I'm sorry, Dad. We should have called you after Seth called, but I went straight to bed when I got home," Kirsten said. "And there was no need to call you when it happened. I was fine. You didn't have to worry, or come down there."

"I would still like to be apprised of these things," he said angrily. "I had to hear it from Sandy, when he called this morning to recruit me in helping him insist that you stay home today and take it easy." Kirsten smiled despite herself. It was just like Sandy to call ahead.

"I'm sorry Dad, I would have called you today, and I would have told you myself what happened." Caleb sounded like a five year old when he replied,

"But I wanted to know last night, Kiki!"

"I'm sorry," Kirsten said again. Her headache had just begun to subside, and now was coming back full force. "I'm going to go lay down." She hung up before Caleb could lecture her anymore, and grabbed an aspirin and a glass of water. Sandy had promised to come home from work early so that they could head down towards Chino and pick Ryan up at the construction sight at six. They had asked Seth if he wanted to come, and he had agreed to go, albeit unenthusiastically.

"So, he's what? A construction worker?" Seth had asked that morning at breakfast. "Your knight in shining armor is a construction worker?" Sandy whapped the back of Seth's head.

"Hey, this is serious Seth, she could have been seriously hurt if he hadn't shown up," Sandy reprimanded. "You could show a little gratitude towards the kid."

"It's a kid?" Seth asked incredulously. "When you say kid, what exactly do you mean by that? College age?" Kirsten shook her head.

"No. When your father says kid, he means kid. He looks about your age," Kirsten said, and then she shook her head again. "Can you imagine, Sandy? He should be in school!"

"Unfortunately, in my line of work, I can imagine. I can imagine a lot worse." Well, Sandy could imagine worse, but for Kirsten, a sixteen year old working construction when he should be worrying about school and girls was terrible enough.

A part of Kirsten wanted to ask Ryan all kinds of questions that night when they went to pick him up for dinner. Why was he working there? Why wasn't he in school? Where were his parents that they were allowing him to drop out of school? But another part of her didn't want to know the answers to those questions. And she knew that he wouldn't appreciate her prying into his life. She knew it was terrible, but she half hoping that Seth and his big mouth would ask everything that she was too chicken to ask.

After she hung up with her father, Sandy called for what was already the third time in two hours.

"Really, I'm okay," she said slightly exasperated. "I'm just going to go take a nap."

"Okay, I'll call you in a little while."

"That's not necessary Sandy."

"Humor me, okay?" He sighed. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said before hanging up and grabbing a book and heading upstairs to curl up in bed for the day.

* * *

"Kirsten? Are you ready?" Sandy called up the stairs to their bedroom. "We're going to be late if we don't leave soon. There's going to be traffic."

"Right, I'm ready," Kirsten assured him as she came down. She had spent a lot of time in front of closet agonizing as to what to wear to dinner that night. She didn't know what was too dressy, what wasn't dressy enough. It also didn't help that she didn't know what Ryan was expecting. Would he just wear what he wore for work? In that case, all she would have to wear was jeans and a sweater. Or would he be expecting something a little less…casual?

Somehow, Seth and Sandy didn't have this problem. Neither had thought twice before throwing on a pair of pants and a shirt. And she was sure, because life was completely unfair, that they would be acceptably dressed no matter where they went.

"Where's Seth?" She asked when she got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Waiting by the car," Sandy answered, and he held out his hand for her to take. "You look nice."

"Do you think this is too dressy?"

"No?"

"Is that a question or an answer?" Kirsten asked.

"An answer," Sandy replied. "You look fine. You'll look perfect no matter where we go." He opened the door and they headed out towards their car.

"Can I drive your car home?" Seth asked.

"What you don't want to spend time bonding with your old man?" Sandy asked feigning hurt. Seth rolled his eyes and climbed into the backseat. "I'm guessing that's a no?" He said to Kirsten, who laughed and nodded as she got into the passenger seat.

* * *

Ryan was waiting for them when they arrived at the construction sight. He had had the same problem that Kirsten had when deciding what to wear. He didn't know if by dressing in something other than his work clothes he was forcing them into taking him somewhere nice, but he knew that they were wealthy, and they were used to dining in restaurants where a certain dress code was required. Or at least that's what Teresa told him when he went to borrow a shirt from Arturo.

"These people are rich," Teresa said exasperated as she handed Ryan a blue button up shirt that she insisted would bring out the blue in his eyes. "They don't exactly eat at places like Denny's." Ryan had thanked her for giving him the shirt, and had gone home to remind his mother that he wouldn't be home that night, being fully aware that she really wouldn't have noticed. Her latest catch, AJ, was a known coke dealer, and his mother had taken full advantage of the connection. And sure enough, when he had walked in the door, there were coke lines on the table and his mother was lying on the couch, one arm slung over the side and the other holding a bottle of vodka. He sighed, and shut the door quietly, hoping not to wake her up. AJ stumbled out of the bathroom as Ryan headed back towards his bedroom.

"Why aren't you at work?" He demanded. Ryan had asked to leave work a couple hours early so that he could change and shower before he had to meet the Cohens for dinner. Ryan ignored him, and walked past and shut the bathroom door and locked it behind him. He had gotten ready as quickly as he could, and went over to Teresa's to kill time until five-thirty when he headed back over to the construction sight.

He had been standing there for a little over ten minutes when the same sleek BMW that had screeched to a halt in front of him last night pulled up to the curb. Kirsten climbed out of the front seat and walked over to him.

"Ryan," she smiled warmly at him. "Thank you again for last night." Ryan, once again, blushed at the expression of gratitude, and just nodded as she motioned for him to follow her to the car. "You met Sandy, my husband last night," she introduced. "And this is our son, Seth." Both teenage boys lifted their hands in hello. They all then stood there for a minute, not knowing what to do next.

"Well, let's get this show on the road," Sandy said breaking the awkward silence that fell over the four. "I'm starved."


	3. Dinner

Once again, thank you so much for your reviews! My little sister took her driver's test today and she parallel parked perfectly, and then she hit the barrel pulling out the space. I was home when she got home, and she just walked in muttering to herself, "stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm so stupid" and I had to reassure her by reminding her that I failed my test twice (okay, so maybe it was three times. Who's counting? The parallel parking thing eluded me) and I recounted all my failures for her, and sadly it made me depressed, but it made her feel better. So make me feel better now, and review again! Thanks!

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.

* * *

Not surprisingly, Seth had been the first one to break the silence in the car.

"So uh, how's working in construction? I mean, that's a pretty…interesting job…I guess," he said to Ryan, and then immediately felt so stupid. How's working in construction? It sucks, obviously, he thought to himself. But Ryan just shrugged.

"It's a job," he replied.

"So how long have you been working there?" Sandy asked looking in the rearview mirror at his son and this boy who saved his wife, and who was now nervously playing with the cuffs of his shirt.

"Um, well I was working summers for a couple of years, and then, uh, I just started a few months ago full time," Ryan said. He didn't tell them why he had started working full time. How his brother stole a car and got caught. How his brother went to jail, just like his father had done. How his mother was drinking and coked out of her mind, and she had stopped paying the bills, and they were going to kick them out the house. When Trey had been out, he had somehow made sure that they had enough money to at least pay the bills. However he did it, Ryan didn't want to know, he was sure that Trey had always gotten the money through illegal sources, but he had always gotten the money and that was what mattered. Ryan had an after school job at the grocery store down the street. The owner had taken pity on him and often let him take home some of the groceries that they couldn't sell. Dented cans, or cans where the label had almost fallen off, or items that had passed the expiration date. And then Trey had gotten caught, and Ryan had been forced to drop out of school. Forced to hunt down Mr. Gregory and ask him for a job. Mr. Gregory had known that Ryan was underage, knew that he was only sixteen, but had given him a job anyway. Most of his employees had started underage, and he wasn't about to turn away a good, hard worker simply because he had the misfortune of being only sixteen.

"Full time? As in like five days a week?" Seth asked with a hint of incredulity to his voice. Seth hated when he felt like a spoiled brat who had no right to complain about a shoe full of piss. And he felt like that right then. Here was a kid, a kid his age, who had to work full time. Forty hours a week. At a hard job. Not some piece of cake job. It was hard for Seth to comprehend. "How old are you?"

"Seth!" Kirsten admonished. But she wanted to hear the answer. She hadn't the guts to follow the question through when she had first met him. "Ryan…you don't have to…"

"I'm eighteen," the lie rolled off of Ryan's tongue easily. He had to use it many times before. Sometimes he forgot that he was only sixteen. Sometimes he forgot that he was still considered a child, since it had been so long since he had actually felt like a child.

Had he ever felt like a child? He couldn't remember that far back. Maybe before his father had gone to jail, when they were still functioning as a family, maybe then he had felt like a kid, but certainly not since they had moved to Chino, and not since he had been working construction.

They pulled up to the restaurant a second later, and they all climbed out of the car. Seth and Ryan walked ahead, Seth asking him about something or another, and Sandy and Kirsten held back just a bit.

"There's no way that he's sixteen," Kirsten whispered as Sandy wrapped an arm around her waist.

"No," Sandy said shaking his head. "He's not sixteen. But he probably has been lying about his age to keep his job. It probably seems natural for him to lie."

"God, that's so sad," Kirsten said as they caught up to the boys. Sandy had placed a reservation, and they were immediately led to their table.

Ryan looked around the restaurant. By normal standards, it wasn't exactly an expensive restaurant, but it was the nicest in Chino, and by Chino standards they might as well been eating at the Russian Tea Room in New York. Wait until Teresa heard where they had eaten. She had suggested that they start saving money and treat themselves for their next birthdays, since their birthdays were only four days apart. Ryan had scoffed at the thought. He was barely making enough to buy some food, and pay the rent and bills; there would be no left over money to take Teresa out for a fancy meal.

"I hope that this is okay?" Kirsten asked as she settled down in her seat and spread the napkin across her lap. "I didn't know what you would like…"

"No, this is great, really," Ryan said. "Thank you for dinner."

"No, Ryan, thank you again," Kirsten said smiling at him. "So, tell us a little more about yourself. I feel like we know nothing about you. We don't even know your last name."

"It's Atwood," Ryan offered. Kirsten nodded and smiled at him.

"Well, Ryan Atwood, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Uh, a brother."

"Older or younger?" Sandy asked as the waitress brought them their drinks.

"Older," Ryan answered. "Trey. He's almost twenty-one."

"Seth is an only child," Kirsten said, and then immediately felt stupid. Of course Seth was an only child, Ryan could clearly see that. She felt Sandy's hand slip into hers under the table and give hers a squeeze. He could see that the conversation wasn't flowing quite as smoothly as Kirsten had hoped, and she was becoming flustered, as she did when things didn't go her way. She picked up her glass of wine and took a drink.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Seth muttered.

"So…Ryan, you grew up in Chino?" Sandy asked. It wasn't as if Ryan was helping to make the conversation flow any. Getting him to talk was proving to be like pulling teeth. He only answered questions that were directly addressed to him, and never once did he offer up anything without being provoked.

"Yes…well, no…I mean, I was born in Fresno, and we lived there until I was about eight, and then we moved here," Ryan said playing nervously with his straw.

"Why?" Kirsten asked taking another drink of wine.

"Um…" Ryan looked clearly flustered and Kirsten wanted to retract the question, but she knew that she couldn't do that without hinting to Ryan that she knew that it was a touchy subject. "My parents split." It was a half truth, Ryan thought. They weren't together after Fresno, I just left out the part that they weren't together because Dad got caught in an armed robbery and went to prison.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Kirsten said. They were all happy for the interruption when the waitress came to take their order.

"So, uh, Mr. Cohen, what do you do?" Finally Ryan was asking a question. Sandy could see that Ryan was smart, and he had figured out quickly that if they were talking about the Cohens, they couldn't ask him any more questions that he wouldn't want to answer. Diversion tactics. And they were going to work too.

"I'm a public defender," Sandy answered. "I work in Chino." Recognition dawned on Ryan's features, and he finally figured out where he had heard the name Sandy Cohen before. He had been Trey's PD when he got caught stealing the car. Sandy racked through his own brain to try to figure out where Ryan would have known him. Ryan Atwood, the name didn't match any of his clients' names, but he had said his brother's name was Trey. Trey Atwood. He had represented him only a few months back. Got caught stealing a car. Sandy struggled to remember all that he could about Trey. But more importantly, about Trey's family. It hadn't been good, he could remember that much. Father was in prison, mother was a mess, and little brother was…little brother was sitting across from him sipping at an iced tea.

"And Mrs. Cohen, you work for your father?" Ryan asked switching the subject back to Kirsten.

"Please don't ask her to explain what she does," Seth whined.

"I tried to explain it to Seth once," Kirsten said shooting a teasing glance at her son. "He fell asleep."

"I did not…actually…yeah, no that's true," Seth said shrugging.

"I run the residential division for the Newport Group," Kirsten said.

"Do you like it?" Ryan asked. Very few people asked her if she liked her job. It was a given that she must. She stopped for a moment and then smiled at him.

"Well, it's stressful, and sometimes my father doesn't make working for him a joy, but, uh, yeah, I do like it," she answered.

"I wanted to be an architect for awhile," Ryan said almost wistfully.

"It's not too late," Sandy spoke up. Ryan looked at him, and then very softly shook his head.

"Yes it is."

* * *

After they had all eaten, and Sandy had taken care of the check, they headed back out towards the car.

"You can just drop me off at the construction site," Ryan said as Sandy backed out of the parking space.

"Do you have your own car?" Seth asked. "My parents won't let me have one until I'm eighteen. Is it parked at the construction site? Can I see what kind of car it is?" Ryan was taken aback by Seth's constant stream of questions, and by the fact that Seth was so interested in him. It was as if Ryan was a bright and shiny toy that Seth's parents had gotten just for him.

"I don't have a car," Ryan said shaking his head. "But I only live like two streets over from the site, I can just walk home."

"No," Kirsten said. Sandy had opened his mouth to say the same thing, but his wife had beaten him to it. "We can drive you home. It's not a problem."

"I really…"

"No, really, we're driving you home, kid," Sandy interrupted, and Ryan shut his mouth. "Just tell me where to turn." Ryan directed from the backseat as Sandy navigated the expensive car through the streets of Chino to Ryan's neighborhood. Seth cringed inwardly as the houses became shabbier the further they got. Finally Ryan instructed Sandy to pull up to an old white house, with peeling paint and an overgrown lawn.

"Thank you for dinner," Ryan said politely as he opened the car door.

"Ryan, wait!" Kirsten said reaching for her purse and pulling out one of her business cards. She quickly scribbled her cell phone number on the back and handed it to him. "Just in case you ever need anything." She pulled him in for an impromptu hug, which surprised both Ryan and her family, and then placed her hands on his shoulders. "I mean it, anything you need." Ryan nodded, thanked her again, and pocketed the card.

"Dude, give us a call, maybe we can have a Playstation tournament? Or I can show you around Newport? I mean, it's not much but…"

"I'd like that," Ryan said smiling at Seth, who nodded his head and ducked back into the car.

"It was very nice to meet you," Sandy said.

"I'll see you around," Ryan said before heading up the path to his house. Kirsten climbed back in the car, and they waited until he was safely inside before pulling away to go collect her car, and go home again.

* * *

"How was the food?" Teresa asked. "What was Mrs. Cohen wearing?" Ryan shook his head at the questions. "Did they have linen napkins? Of course they had linen napkins, stupid question….what did you have? What did they have? Did Mrs. Cohen only eat a salad? I always figured those Newport women only ate salads. Like rabbits." It was the next night, and Teresa had come over to Ryan's house and they were lying on his bed as she asked him about his dinner the night before. When he had told her where they had eaten, she had hit his arm.

"No way!" She had exclaimed. "I knew it. I knew that they were going to take you there. How was it?"

"It was fine," Ryan said shrugging.

"No, no fine, a real answer, with details," Teresa had instructed .This had started the list of questions, and Ryan knew enough to know that he would have to answer every single one.

"Mrs. Cohen is not like a rabbit," he said laughing. "She had chicken. And the food was good. I had steak. Yes, they had linen napkins. I don't remember what she was wearing."

"Boys," Teresa said shaking her head. "That would have been the first thing that I would have noticed." She ran her hand wistfully over her faded jean shorts and played with the frayed ends. "I knew that you should have insisted on taking me, you missed all the important details."

"Her clothes looked nice, is that good enough?"

"What about her purse?" Teresa asked turning onto her stomach so that she could look at Ryan. "Was it a Prada? Kate Spade?" Teresa and her mother had a healthy addiction to beauty magazines, and were constantly looking over the pages with admiration and envy. "Oh never mind." Teresa waved her hand in annoyance. She climbed off the bed and grabbed her jacket. "I have to go. Try to remember what she was wearing." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before climbing out the window, and he watched her as she dashed across the yards, stopping to turn around and wave at him.

Ryan closed his blinds and pulled down the covers to his bed. As he went to shut off the lights, his bedroom door flew open and AJ came barreling in.

"What did you say to them?" He screamed at Ryan.

"Say to who?" Ryan asked.

"The cops," AJ snarled. "They came by today looking for you." Ryan swallowed hard. They had told him the other night that he and Mrs. Cohen might have to come down to formally identify her attacker. They just picked the wrong time to show up. Ryan had hoped that AJ and his mother would be out if the cops decided to stop by. No good ever came with mixing an Atwood and a cop.

"Some lady got attacked the other day," Ryan said slowly. "I helped her out, and they just wanted..." AJ grabbed his arm and threw him up against the wall.

"You liar, you told them about the cocaine, didn't you? You told them that I was here," AJ's face was so close to Ryan's that Ryan could feel the spit on his face.

"I didn't," Ryan said shaking his head. AJ pulled him away from the wall and tossed him to the ground and gave him a kick.

"You're a liar," AJ repeated.

"AJ! Don't hurt him," Dawn appeared in the doorway now, a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other. Her platinum blonde hair was in disarray, and she was clearly messed up. "Ryan, I think that you should leave."

"Mom! I didn't do anything! This is my house! I pay all the bills," Ryan argued.

"You heard your mother," AJ said reaching into Ryan's closet and pulling out a bag that he threw at him. "Get your stuff together and get out." Ryan threw some things into the bag and slammed the front door on his way out. He was hoping that Teresa's mother would let him stay at their house until his mother sobered up and calmed down and he could go back home again.

"I'm so sorry, Ryan," Teresa said. "But we have family staying with us. You know that." As soon as she said it, he remembered. Her cousins or something like that were staying with them for a couple of weeks.

"It's okay," Ryan assured her. "I'll find somewhere to go." He started to call everyone he knew, but he was getting no where. It was getting late when he fished a little white card out of his pockets and taking a deep breath dialed the number that was written on the back. She answered on the third ring, sounding tired and confused.

"Mrs. Cohen? It's Ryan, uh…I need a favor…."

* * *

I've started the next chapter, but who knows if it'll actually stay that way. I have a habit of erasing entire chapters and rewriting them completely. And then sometimes they get erased themselves…stupid computer…anyway, review and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. 


	4. Just for the night

Okay, so please review and let me know what you think. I'm currently addicted to VH1, and I was watching wacky celebrity baby names, and I just think that naming your daughter God'iss is one of the most ridiculous things ever. Or how about Pilot Inspektor? Or Reign Beau? Rumer? Those poor kids. Anyway, please review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

* * *

Kirsten was at home, doing some work that she had brought home at the kitchen table when her cell phone began to ring. Thinking that it was her father, she groaned as she sifted through the papers that were spread all over the table to find her phone. When she picked it up and glanced at the screen, she was surprised to see a number that she had never seen before. 

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Cohen? It's Ryan, uh…I need a favor…."

"Ryan," she fought to keep the surprise out of her voice. Standing up, she walked to the counter and grabbed the keys to her car. "What's wrong?"

"I, um, I need somewhere to crash for the night. Just the night, I promise, I'll start looking for a place tomorrow, I just…it's late, and I don't have anywhere to go…"

"Of course," Kirsten said. "Where are you? I'll come get you." She scribbled down the address that Ryan rattled off, and hung up, assuring him that she would be there as soon as she could.

"Hey, honey, how's the work going?" Sandy asked walking into the kitchen just as she was hanging up the phone.

"That was Ryan," she said gesturing to her phone. "He needs somewhere to stay. I'm going to go get him." Sandy nodded.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked.

"No," Kirsten shook her head. "Can you stay here? Get some clean sheets on the bed in the guest room? And some clean towels?" Sandy frowned, clearly remembering what had happened the last time that she went alone into Chino. As if reading his thoughts, Kirsten placed a kiss on Sandy's cheek, and replied, "I'm not going to get out of the car, Sandy. I'll be okay."

"Right, well call me when you get down there, and I'll go get the guest room ready," he gave her a kiss on the mouth and she grabbed her purse and headed towards the front door.

"Mom? Where are you going?" Seth asked as she passed him in the front hall.

"Ryan's going to stay with us for a few days, I'm going to pick him up," Kirsten explained quickly.

"That's awesome. Can I come? Please?" Kirsten hadn't seen Seth this excited about anything in a long time, so she nodded, and Seth ran up the stairs to grab a pair of shoes.

"Seth's coming with me," Kirsten called to Sandy in the kitchen, who sighed with a great deal of relief.

"Okay."

"Ready," Seth said as he reappeared on the steps, shoes halfway on his feet. Kirsten nodded, and the two climbed into the car. "So why is he staying with us?"

"I'm not sure," Kirsten said shrugging. "I don't know if he'll say. He just called and said that he needed somewhere to stay tonight."

"He's not really eighteen, is he?" Seth asked.

"No, he isn't," Kirsten replied. "Your dad represented his brother, Trey, and he found his file this morning when he went to work. Trey's little brother Ryan, isn't eighteen, he's sixteen. He just turned sixteen a few months ago. Trey's in jail, his father is in jail, and his mother has been arrested a few times for possession, but none of the arrests have ever stuck." Kirsten snuck a look over at her son, who seemed to be taking this all in better than she had. What a rotten hand Ryan had been dealt in life. She had actually wept over the unfairness of it all. Wept when Sandy called her, as she sat in her corner office, in her father's multi-million dollar company, and felt like such a hypocrite for crying, knowing that she had no right to cry when she had everything that she could possibly want or need. But she wasn't crying for herself, she was crying for the boy that never got the chance to be a boy. A boy who had to lie about his age, presumably, so that he could get a job to help support his family.

A family that had fallen apart years ago, and a family that never thanked him for giving up his childhood, for giving up any chance that he had at a decent future. She wondered what she had done to deserve her charmed life, and what he had done to deserve such shitty parents.

"There's no balance to the world," Seth said quietly. "I mean, sure, I often think that the balance for me having everything that I do is that the water polo players pee in my shoes, but really…I mean, what is that compared to having a father and brother in jail, and an addict mother? I mean, he has nothing. And I have…well, maybe not everything, but once I claim Summer as my own, then yeah, I'll have everything. Shouldn't…shouldn't it be more equal?" It was in that moment that Kirsten had to face the fact that her son was no longer a child, and she reached over and took his hand in her own and gave it a squeeze.

"Yes," Kirsten said nodding. "It should be more equal." They drove in silence for a little longer before Seth finally spoke up again.

"Are you going to let him just leave? Go back to his construction job, and just let him…continue pretending?" Kirsten hadn't even thought about what would happen after that night, after they brought Ryan home.

"I don't know Seth, all I know is that he called asking for a place to stay, and I'm going to give him a place to stay," Kirsten replied. "Hey, help me navigate." She thrust the directions that Ryan had given her in Seth's direction. They found Ryan a few blocks down from the construction site. There was no mistaking the look of relief on his face when Kirsten and Seth pulled up. Seth hopped out of the Range Rover and threw open the trunk so that Ryan could put his bike in the car.

"Thanks again," Ryan said as he climbed in the backseat. "It's only for tonight. The place that I was staying at…it didn't really work out. I'll start looking for an apartment tomorrow."

"You can stay as long as you need to," Kirsten told him, looking in the rearview mirror back at Ryan. He clutched his backpack nervously, and his gaze never left the passing scenery out the window.

"Hey, dude, I know that you were probably hoping for shotgun," Seth said turning around in his seat to face Ryan. "But I insisted on coming. Couldn't let my Mom venture back down into dangerous territory without some sort of protection, right Mom?" Kirsten rolled her eyes.

"I can take care of myself," Kirsten argued.

"Right, and the other night proved just that," Seth replied sarcastically. "Thanks again for that, Ryan. I mean, my dad would have been a mess if something would have happened to her. When she's away on business, he can't do anything for himself. He once walked around the house for three hours looking for a blue sock. And I mean…I would have been pretty bummed out too. While she can't cook to save her life, she makes amazing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." Kirsten shook her head with a laugh.

"Thanks a lot Seth," she said. "I'm glad to see that I mean so much to you." Ryan just managed a small smile. "Ryan, do you have to work tomorrow?" Ryan panicked suddenly, realizing that he hadn't even thought about work.

"Yes, I do…if you could just tell me where the nearest bus station to your house is I can take a bus in the morning back to Chino," Ryan said calculating in his head the time that it would take by bus to get to the site, and how early he would need to get up.

"Why don't you take the day off?" Kirsten suggested. "We'll call Mr. Gregory and tell him that I requested that you come help me on another project. He won't mind, will he?" Ryan wasn't too sure about Mr. Gregory not minding. But he knew that Mr. Gregory wouldn't say anything to Mrs. Cohen, it would be Ryan that would hear about it. "I'll take you back down and talk to him. Tell him that you were just helping to foster a good relationship with the Newport Group. Lay it on thick. It'll be okay. Seth, why don't you take a day off too? Show Ryan around."

"Meaning, I wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow? I'm in."

"No really, Seth doesn't have to skip school," Ryan said. "I'll just take a bus to work."

"I insist," Kirsten said. And Ryan got the sinking feeling that when Kirsten insisted on something, it happened.

A day off. He hadn't had a day off in years. Every day off of school he had spent working in the grocery store, or helping Trey out with something. Days off did not exist in his world.

Seth chattered on relentlessly for the rest of the drive. Something about a girl named Summer and Tahiti.

"It's going to be awesome," Seth said. "That is, if my parents let me."

"We'll see," Kirsten said.

"We'll see always means no," Seth whined. "It's giving me false hope, when everyone knows that you and Dad are going to get all overprotective like you always do, and for the seventeenth summer of my life, I will be stuck at home with nothing to do."

"No, Seth," Kirsten replied. "You're becoming an adult. Dad and I recognize that. We'll talk about it when it gets closer to summer." Even in the darkness of the car, Ryan could see that Seth's face lit up. He closed his eyes listening to Seth's babble. God, that kid could talk. Finally Kirsten announced that they were there, and Ryan opened up his eyes.

It was the biggest house that he had ever seen in his life. They just didn't make houses like this in Chino. Seth helped him unload his bike, as Kirsten grabbed his bag for him and they made their way into the house.

"Sandy? We're back," Kirsten called. Sandy came down the stairs and smiled at Ryan.

"Hi Ryan, nice to see you again."

"Thanks for letting me stay here," Ryan said softly.

"No problem, we set up the guest room for you, so if you want to put your…"

"The guest room?" Seth interrupted. "Dude, campaign for the pool house."

"Wherever is fine," Ryan said heading towards the stairs.

"No, dude, the pool house. It has its own kitchen, and bathroom, and it's totally more private."

"It is more private," Kirsten said looking up at Sandy.

"It's up to you kid," Sandy said coming down the rest of the way. "Whichever you prefer."

"It's fine. Whichever is easiest," Ryan said. "I don't…I don't care."

"The pool house," Seth insisted. "Definitely the pool house." With that, he grabbed Ryan's bag and started to head to the back yard.

"Let me just grab some clean sheets," Kirsten said hurrying up the stairs. Sandy led Ryan out back, and Ryan had to admit that if he had a choice, it would be the pool house. Seth was right, it was more private, and his own bathroom and kitchenette were a plus, but it was that view. That amazing view with the sound of the waves breaking against the beach. Ryan knew that if he lived here, he would never get used to that. He would never take that view for granted.

Seth was already lying on the bed when he and Sandy stepped into the pool house. Seth acknowledged that they had entered, but didn't get up from where he was lying.

"I'm just making sure it's comfortable," Seth said as he flipped around on it. Kirsten came in with the sheets, and made Seth get up so that she could make the bed.

"I can do that," Ryan said.

"No," Kirsten said smiling at him. "You're the guest. I can make the bed."

"She's an excellent bed maker," Sandy said grinning at Ryan. "She makes hospital corners like nobody's business." Ryan wrapped his arms around his middle and watched uncomfortably as Kirsten finished making the bed.

"There are fresh towels over here," Kirsten said pointing. "And if you need anything, mine and Sandy's bedroom is right there. Just knock on the door." Ryan nodded, knowing that short of a catastrophe, there was no way that he was going to bother Mr. and Mrs. Cohen that night. The adults said goodnight, and made their way across the lit backyard to the kitchen.

"Well, dude, I guess I should probably let you get some sleep," Seth said climbing out the chair he had been lounging on while his mother made the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow. It's going to be awesome."

"We really don't have to do anything," Ryan said. "You can go to school."

"Dude, me and school don't really mix. Actually, it's not the school part, it's the people there. There's all these water polo players, and let's just say that it's understatement by saying that they don't like me. But hey, they shave their chests, so I'd say that we're even." He headed towards the door, and turned back to face Ryan. "Seriously, when my parents say stay as long as you like, that means that you can stay as long as you like. My aunt Hailey's record is like seven months. Then she got bored and moved to Calcutta for awhile, so I'm sure that it would have been longer." With that, Seth waved goodbye and headed back into the house leaving Ryan alone in the pool house wondering if he should have just stuck it out in Chino.

It's only a night, he reminded himself. I'll be out of here by tomorrow night.

It's only for a night.


	5. The offer

Sorry about the wait. I went to the beach (where I got sunburnt, that was painful, but turned into a very nice tan, which now, to my dismay, is peeling) and then I had a bit of writer's block. But here's the next chapter, if you could let me know what you thought of it, I'd truly be appreciative. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Oh, they aren't mine. Not mine at all.

* * *

When Ryan woke up the next morning, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. He knew immediately that he wasn't at home. For one thing, the mattress wasn't lumpy, and for another, he could hear the sounds of the ocean and not the sounds of traffic. He sat up, and looked around the pool house. Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he wondered if he should stay in the pool house, or go into the main house. Finally, he decided that he would go into the main house, thank Mr. and Mrs. Cohen one more time if they were still there for letting him stay, and seek out Seth to see what he had planned for the day.

Ryan had to admit that he was excited about not having to work that day. He wasn't inhuman, and he did appreciate the break. Another thing to thank Mrs. Cohen for. He sighed, and opened the door to the main house. Mr. Cohen was holding Mrs. Cohen from behind and leaving a trail of kisses up her neck. Ryan had clearly walked in on something, and they had been so involved that they didn't hear the door open, but they heard him when he shuffled in and stopped suddenly at the sight in front of him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he muttered as they guiltily jumped apart. "I didn't…" He started heading back to the door, wishing more than anything else that he had just stayed into the pool house until Seth came and collected him.

"No, it's fine," Sandy said smiling at Ryan, and giving Kirsten a kiss on the cheek. "I have to go anyway. Have a good day today, honey. Oh, and Ryan, have fun with Seth today." He grabbed a travel mug of coffee and bowed out of the kitchen. Ryan noticed that Kirsten was slightly red as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I'm sorry," Ryan repeated.

"No, we should know better. If it had been Seth that walked in, we would have heard about it for weeks, and we would have heard how, 'gross, and disgusting it is' and how we should 'act our age.'" Kirsten shook her head. "So thank God it was you, because I've heard that speech enough for one lifetime." Ryan had to smile at the image of Seth walking in on his parents and yelling at them about it. Ryan thought that it was a nice change of pace to see a loving couple instead of his mother and her string of boyfriends. He could see that Sandy clearly adored his wife, and after years of marriage they were still in love. It was nice. It was certainly different.

"Well, I'm glad to have been of service," Ryan said mirroring her smile.

"I called Mr. Gregory this morning," Kirsten said as she grabbed another mug and offered the coffee pot to Ryan who accepted it gratefully. Ryan was almost afraid of what his boss had to say about him taking the day off. "He said that you could work for me as long as I needed you. He was very nice about it." Ryan breathed a silent sigh of relief. He still had a job to go back to when this little vacation, or whatever it was, ended.

"Thank you for calling him," Ryan said. "Thank you for letting me stay here last night. I'm going to head back to Chino later today." Kirsten wasn't known for impulsive actions, that was usually Sandy's area of expertise. Especially when it came to big things, but she found her mouth opening and her suddenly insisting that Ryan stay with them.

"No, stay here," Kirsten said. "I mean, we have plenty of space, and there's no reason for you to go find somewhere else to stay. You can stay here. As long as you need to…" Kirsten felt a little like Seth the way that she was babbling, but it seemed vital to her that Ryan stay with them. Who knew what they were sending him back into if they let him go back to Chino?

"I can't…" Ryan started to argue. He turned and looked out the window. He wished that he could say yes. He wished that he could stay here forever waking up to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. He wished that he could spend every night on those expensive Egyptian cotton sheets that he could definitely see himself getting used to sleeping on. He wished that he could smile and accept her offer and set up camp in the pool house. He did really wish that it was that easy. But he couldn't, because it wasn't that easy, and he couldn't just stay here. He couldn't just pretend that he didn't have a life in Chino.

"I know that you aren't eighteen," Kirsten said softly. Ryan's head jerked up. "You're sixteen. You were born the same year as Seth. Two months after Seth actually." She paused and studied Ryan's face for a second trying to determine what he was thinking. His face was expressionless. Whatever he was thinking was a mystery to her. "What I don't know is why you aren't in school. Why you lied about your age to get a job, and why you have a black eye and why you called me last night to pick you up. I don't mind," she said quickly as he started to apologize. "I'm glad that you called."

"What are you going to do now?" Ryan asked quietly. "Are you going to call the police? Social services?"

"I don't know what to do," Kirsten admitted. "I don't think calling social services will make things any easier on you." Ryan shrugged. He had been in the foster care system before, when he was nine and his mother fell apart. It wasn't the most pleasant place to be, and at his age he would rather take his chances out on the streets.

"No," Ryan finally answered. "It won't."

"Why don't you stay here?" Kirsten suggested. "For a little while at least? We can get you enrolled in Seth's high school. He'd love that." Ryan didn't know whether or not to laugh or cry. He shook his head.

"I can't," he said for the second time in that conversation. "You don't have to…you don't owe me anything."

"Yes I do," Kirsten said. "But that's not the point. I'm not doing this because I owe you anything."

"Then why?" Ryan asked and he suddenly looked like a little boy to her. He didn't look the world weary sixteen year old that had pretended to be older than he was for so long that it was entirely possible that he had forgotten that he was only sixteen. He looked like she imagined he would if the world hadn't thrown so much shit his way at such a young age.

"Because," Kirsten said moving closer to him. "Because I've only known you for a few days, and I can tell already that you are smart, and kind, and thoughtful, and you don't…you don't…" Kirsten struggled to put what she felt into words. Sandy was so much better at this than she was. She imagined that if Sandy had brought Ryan home instead of her, then everything would have gone a lot smoother. "…deserve your family and the cards you've been dealt."

"Mrs. Cohen," Ryan started. He gripped the counter and wished that Teresa would have just let him stay at her house the night before. It would have made everything less complicated.

"Call me Kirsten," Kirsten interrupted.

"Mrs. Cohen," Ryan said again pointedly ignoring her requested. "I can't…I just can't pretend that I'm a normal sixteen year old. So I go to school and finish out the year? What good does that do me? Eventually I'm going to have to leave here, and then I'm back in Chino only this time without a job or a place to stay."

"Ryan, I want you to finish high school. At the very least, I want you to finish high school. I want you to go to college and…"

"College?" Ryan snorted in disbelief. "Mrs. Cohen, I'm never going to be able to go to college."

"Why not?" Kirsten demanded.

"Kids like me don't go to college."

"Yes they do. You're a smart kid, and smart kids go to college. Don't you want to do something with your life? Isn't there something that you dreamed about being when you were little?" An architect, Ryan said in his head. He had always dreamed of being an architect. But he was smart, and being as smart as he was, he realized that he could never fulfill that dream. "What do you want to be Ryan?"

"Seventeen," Ryan answered automatically. The answer took Kirsten off guard, and so she sighed and replied,

"So do I." Then she shook her head, and looked at Ryan again. "But that's what I'm offering. I'm offering you a chance to be sixteen, and then seventeen." She looked expectantly at Ryan who just shook his head sadly.

"I can't Mrs. Cohen, I'm sorry. I have a life in Chino, and while it may not be the greatest in the world, it's mine. I have friends, and my family, what's left of it anyway, down in Chino. I can't just…it's very nice of you to offer, although I don't think you fully thought about what you were offering. It's nice, but not realistic." He dumped out his now cold coffee and placed the mug in the sink. "I think I should go get my things together and go home."

"No, please stay until the end of the day at least. Go with Seth to the beach," Kirsten pleaded.

"I think it would be better if I just left now," Ryan said. "If you could just tell me where the bus station is?"

"Let me drive you there, at least," Kirsten said.

"You have to work." Kirsten shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. Let me drive you back to Chino." Just as Ryan was about to respond, a sleepy Seth stumbled into the kitchen.

"Dude, are you ready for the awesome day that I have planned?" Seth asked grinning when he spotted Ryan. Ryan froze, and looked at Kirsten who hung her head, and then back at Seth who was grinning enthusiastically. He was afraid that if he didn't leave now he would never be able to bring himself to leave, and while it was nice what Kirsten was offering, he knew that it wouldn't last. It would be fun for the Cohens at first, a nice little project, and then they would inevitably get sick of it, sick of him, and he would be back where he started. Better to cut his losses and run while he was ahead.

"Let me just get a shower," Ryan said. Seth nodded, his head bobbing up and down as he continued to smile.

"Take your time, we have all day. I'm smelling a little rank as well, so I'm going to head to the shower. Mom, have a lovely day at work." Kirsten nodded and allowed a little smile. Ryan was at least going to stay until the end of the day. She would have to call Sandy and they could decide the best course of action. Seth bounded out of the kitchen and up the stairs, and Ryan looked at Kirsten.

"I'll get the first bus out after Seth's day of fun," Ryan told her.

"No, Sandy can drive you home," Kirsten said shaking her head adamantly.

Home, Ryan thought. Would he be allowed back into his home? Had sufficient time passed that his mother had mellowed and forgotten all about how she kicked her sixteen-year-old to the curb?

"Okay, thanks," Ryan said. He hurried out of the kitchen before Kirsten could offer him anything else that would be impossibly hard to pass up.

* * *

Ryan discovered, pretty early on in the day, that Seth liked to talk. Sometimes, Ryan assumed, it was just because Seth liked the sound of his own voice, but it could be, and this was what Ryan feared, it was because Seth really had no one but his mother and father to talk to, and he was using up all the words that he should have spent on friends on Ryan.

Seth babbled the entire way down to the pier, continuing his favorite topic of the dayso farabout Summer and his big plans for the two of them. Ryan had spent the day replaying the conversation with Kirsten earlier in his head, and wondering what would happen when he went back to Chino. He was worried about his mother, he was worried about AJ, and he was worried about his job at the construction site with Mr. Gregory. He was trying to pay attention to Seth, but it was getting increasingly harder, and he had to remind himself to listen to his curly-headed companion every once in awhile.

"So what do you think?" Seth asked catching Ryan completely off guard.

"Oh, that sounds great," Ryan said hoping that he was answering correctly. They had spent part of the day on Seth's sailboat, and then in the pool, and then Seth had gotten hungry, and while there was plenty of food in the Cohen house, insisted that there was nothing to eat, and they had headed to a diner that Seth claimed made the world's best chilli fries.

"Great," Seth repeated with a grin. Man, Ryan thought, this kid is easy to please. They walked toward what looked like a diner, when a few kids coming out bumped into Seth and Ryan.

"Move it queer," a kid who, in Ryan's opinion, looked like an oversized Ken doll, sneered at Seth.

"Hello, Luke," Seth said amiably, and was rewared with his polite smile with another shove. Luke and his cronies moved away from Seth and Ryan and Seth sighed as soon as they were out of earshot. "Poor boy. Lost most of his brain cells playing water polo and holding his breath under water too long. It's amazing he doesn't fall down more when he walks."

"Do they bother you a lot?" Ryan asked looking out the window to where Luke and his friends were standing.

"Depends on what you mean by a lot...and what you mean by bother," Seth shrugged. "If you call urinating in my gym shoes every day since the sixth grade bothering me a lot, then yes, I suppose they do. You can see why I was more than willing to skip school today." Seth shrugged again. "I got used to it you know? I kept hoping that they would turn their attentions elsewhere, but alas, no one better to torment came along. I take it in stride, I figure it will just be good fodder for the tell-all that I plan to write someday." Seth grinned at Ryan. They ordered the food and ate with Seth talking once again aboutcomics or something else that Ryan had little interest in, before heading back to Seth's house.

Kirsten and Sandy were both home already when they walked in. They had ordered Thai food and were eating when Seth and Ryan walked in.

"What? Nothing for us?" Seth complained as he stole a dumpling off of his father's plate.

"You left us a note saying that you were going to grab some food," Kirsten pointed out. "We figured you had already eaten. There's plenty left if you two want to make up a plate." Seth didn't need to be told twice, and he grabbed a plate and loaded up the food.

"When I'm done here, we can go grab your stuff and take you home," Sandy told Ryan.

"Thanks again. For letting me stay here last night, and for driving me home."

"You don't have to go," it was one last plea from Kirsten, but Ryan shook his head.

"I'm going to go get my stuff," he said before leaving the kitchen and heading towards the pool house. Kirsten sighed.

"This is so frustrating," she complained to Sandy who nodded his head in agreement. Seth, who hadn't been privy to the conversation between Kirsten and Ryan, or between his parents, had a confused look on his face, and kept looking from his father to his mother to see if he could understand what was going on.

"I'll talk to him in the car," Sandy said. "See what happens." Kirsten nodded, not completely sastisfied, and a few minutes later, Ryan reappeared with his book bag and Kirsten stood to give him a hug goodbye, and then told him again to call if he needed anything, knowing that he would never call her again. Seth and Ryan said goodbye, Seth giving Ryan a few CD's and comic books to take with him, and then Sandy and Ryan were gone.

"This is it," Ryan said pointing to an old house. Sandy pulled up in front of it, and reached into his wallet to pull out his own business card.

"Just in case you need something, and you can't, or won't, get ahold of Kirsten," Sandy said handing it over.

"Thanks for the ride," Ryan said as he jumped out the car and headed towards the front door. Sandy watched him go, and waited a minute when he saw Ryan pause in the open doorway. Sensing that something wasn't right, Sandy got out of the car and headed towards the house. When he reached the door, he saw what had caused Ryan to stop.

Everything was gone.

There was nothing in the house except a note on the counter.

Sandy crossed over to Ryan, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go home kid," he said, and, to his surprise, Ryan simply nodded and followed Sandy out the empty house.

* * *

Sorry again it took so long. Stupid writer's block! So anyway, please let me know what you thought. I'll try to be quicker on the next update. 


	6. Just say yes

So here's the next chapter. I had to get my wisdom teeth out on Monday and my mouth is totally hurting, despite the pain killers I'm on. But hey, if the chapter sucks, I can just blame the Percocets, right? Right. Make me feel better and review. Thanks!

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.

* * *

Kirsten was in the kitchen when she heard the door open. She headed to the hallway to greet her husband and to see what happened when he dropped off Ryan. To her utter surprise, Ryan stood before her, his hand clutching his worn back pack, and his eyes trained on the ground.

"Ryan!" She couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice, even though she knew that she shouldn't get her hopes up, not before she knew what was happening. Maybe he just forgot something at their house. Somehow, she doubted that. He was pretty determined to get out of the Cohen house as quickly as possible. "What are you doing here?" She looked over at Sandy confused, and then back at Ryan who had finally lifted his head to meet her eye.

"I, uh, I don't know," he answered honestly. He didn't know what he was doing back there. He wasn't thinking when he saw all of his stuff gone, he was numb, and he felt Sandy guide him out of the house and into the car, and he vaguely heard something about home, but he wasn't thinking. It he had been thinking he would have told Sandy that he didn't need to go back to Newport with him. He wasn't a child, he wasn't Seth. He didn't need anyone to take care of him. He was paying the bills to that house anyway, and he would have just gone out and bought a sleeping bag and camped out on the floor. But instead, he had followed Sandy to the car, climbed in and tried not to think about what had just happened.

"What happened?" Kirsten asked, this time the question was directed to Sandy.

"Hey, kid, why don't you take your stuff out to the pool house?" Sandy suggested to Ryan, who was too tired, and too confused to argue with him. Ryan simply nodded and walked out the front hall.

"Sandy, what happened?" Kirsten asked again. Sandy rubbed his temples, and then sighed and looked at his wife and pulled her into his arms.

"His mother took off," he murmured as he held her close to him.

"What?" Kirsten exclaimed pulling back from Sandy. "What do you mean 'took off?'"

"I mean, we got there and everything in the house was gone. Everything. The only thing left was a note on the counter telling Ryan that she was sorry."

"Oh God," Kirsten said covering her hand over her mouth and trying to imagine what kind of mother just took off and left her kid. She couldn't conceive of a situation where she could leave Seth, just leave without knowing if he was okay or happy or…God, she just couldn't imagine what was going through his mother's head. "Poor Ryan."

"He just shut down, Kirsten," Sandy said sighing again and heading into the kitchen. "You should have seen him. It was like he turned off all of his emotions. It was like he went numb." Sandy could still see Ryan's face as he looked around the empty house. Sandy could see a flash of hurt, maybe anger, and then nothing. Nothing at all.

"Well, it's a good thing that you brought him back here," Kirsten said. She walked over to the window and looked out it at where Ryan was sitting on the bed in the pool house, his head in his hands. She wanted to go out to him, she wanted to tell him that it was going to be okay that he could stay with her and Sandy and Seth. That they could get him enrolled in Harbor.

"Let's give him some time before we talk about what's going to happen next," Sandy said. Kirsten turned to him surprised that he had known exactly what she was thinking.

"You're probably right," she said nodding. "He probably needs some alone time to think things over."

"Where's Seth?" Sandy asked, suddenly realizing how quiet the house was when he and Ryan had walked in.

"He went to rent a movie," Kirsten said shrugging. "I said that I could use a good movie night, and he surprisingly agreed. I told him that we would watch whatever he wanted. I think that we may be in for another movie based on a comic book." Just as the words were out of her mouth, Seth came into the kitchen holding a bag from Blockbuster.

"Oh, come on, you know that you liked _X-Men_," he teased. "What's with the faces of gloom? How'd it go in Chino, Dad?" Seth asked.

"Well, funny you should ask son," Sandy said. "Ryan's mother took off. I brought him back here."

"You did? Where is he?" Seth suddenly got very excited, and Kirsten hated to admit that she was also excited about the fact that Sandy brought Ryan back home. She wondered what that said about her. That she was excited that a mother abandoned her son?

"He's in the pool house. But why don't you let him have some alone time before you go in there? He has a lot to think about?" Sandy suggested.

"Can I at least tell him that movie night will commence in ten minutes if he would like to join us?" Seth asked. Kirsten could see that it was taking all that Seth had not to bounce from foot to foot like he had when he was little. She was suddenly hit with the memory of a four-year-old Seth bouncing back and forth, foot to foot, holding tightly in his hands a plastic horse.

"Can I get it Mommy?" He asked as he held it out for her to see, without stopping the bouncing.

"Sure, Sethy," Kirsten said taking it from him just long enough to pay for it. She had been a young mother, only twenty-five at the time, used to having money, and she spoiled her only child, even though they were still living in Berkeley at the time and money was tight.

Kirsten was brought back to her sixteen-year-old waiting impatiently for an answer.

"Go ahead," she sighed, knowing that there was no way that she was going to keep Seth out of the pool house.

"Great," Seth grinned and took off through the back door, not waiting for either of his parents to change their minds. He knocked twice and saw through the glass Ryan look up at him. Seth opened the door and closed it behind him.

"Hey Seth," Ryan said tiredly.

"Hey," Seth rocked back on his heels and then gave Ryan a small smile. "I just wanted to tell you that we're having movie night in the house. It's going to start in ten minutes, and dude, if you want to see it you better be in there in ten minutes. I mean, if you ask the dreaded question, 'what did I miss?' all you will get is a pillow in the face. Trust me, my mom used to be guilty of that cardinal movie sin all the time, and then she wised up and just learned to park her butt in front of the television when my dad and I were ready to start." Seth knew that he was rambling. His dad liked to talk, but Seth knew that the rambling was all him. And he knew that he was probably freaking Ryan out, but he just couldn't make his mouth stop moving.

"Uh, thanks," Ryan said managing a small smile. "But I think that I'll pass."

"You sure?" Seth asked. "Because my dad's making popcorn, and he's an excellent popcorn maker."

"I'm sure," Ryan said. "But thank you for the offer." Seth bobbed his head a few times.

"I have school tomorrow, but you'll be here when I get home right?" Seth asked. "We can have a Playstation battle? There's this awesome game my parents got me with ninjas and stuff, and I'd like to show it to you. So you'll be here?" Seth looked so eager and excited about the fact that he might possibly have a friend, that Ryan could do nothing but nod and smile at Seth.

"Yeah, Seth, I'll be here." Seth grinned and left the pool house. Of course he would be there when Seth got home from school. Where the hell else would he go?

* * *

Seth knew that his attention span was iffy at best, and he found his thoughts wandering all day at school the next day. He hadn't seen Ryan since he had left the pool house the night before, but he knew that his mother had gone into the pool house that morning, to check on Ryan and take him a cup of coffee. Seth had spied on his mother and Ryan from the kitchen, peering through the windows wishing that he had some sort of way of hearing what was being said. Never before had he wanted the ability to read lips, but he found himself trying to make out what his mother was saying, and more importantly, what Ryan was replying. It didn't take a lip reader to see that Ryan wasn't saying much of anything. It looked as if it was a completely one-sided conversation.

When Kirsten had come back in the kitchen, Seth had practically assaulted her trying to find out what had happened.

"What did you say? What did he say? What's going on?"

"I told him that he was more than welcome to stay here with us for as long as he wanted to," Kirsten said. She had been very careful with her choice of words. She had chosen the word want instead of need. What Ryan wanted and what he perceived that he needed were two entirely different things. Kirsten had tried to explain to him that he could stay there with them. That they could enroll him in Seth's school, and he could finish high school here in Newport.

"Seth's school's private isn't it?" Ryan had spoken up.

"Yes," Kirsten said not understanding what that had to do with anything.

"I can't afford it," Ryan said shrugging.

"We'd pay for it."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"I'm offering."

"Please don't," Ryan pleaded looking up at Kirsten. She saw what he was really asking her to do. He was asking her not to offer things that he wouldn't be able to turn down.

"Ryan, just think about it, okay? Then tonight, you, and me, and Sandy, we'll all sit down and we'll discuss what's best for you. What should happen now." Ryan had offered a non-committal shrug, and Kirsten had finally asked the same question that her son had the night before. "You will be here when I get home, right?"

"Yes," Ryan had sighed giving Kirsten the same answer he had given Seth. "I'll be here."

And he kept his promise to both of them. He was there when Seth tore through the house after-school. Seth had barely contained himself for the last few periods of the day, and had raced home to find Ryan in the pool house, reading a book. Seth wondered if Ryan had come in the house at all, all day for anything.

"You're here!" Seth couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice. He had half expected to come home to find Ryan gone.

"I told you I would be," Ryan said placing a piece of paper to mark his place in the book and placing the book on the nightstand next to the bed where he had found it that morning. He wasn't sure whose book it was, but he hadn't wanted to go into the house and watch the Cohens' television, although Kirsten had told him that he was more than welcome to. He had taken her up on the offer of swimming, borrowing a pair of Sandy's old swim trunks, and had spent part of the morning doing laps in the pool, and the other part down at the beach soaking in the sun. Then he had come back up, and found the book in the pool house and that had taken up the rest of the day until Seth was due home.

"Well, I'm glad," Seth said grinning at his new friend. "Are you hungry? I'm starving." Ryan was admittedly hungry. He had eaten little that day, not wanting to take too much of the Cohens' food.

"I could eat," Ryan said shrugging.

"Great," Seth said. "Come on, kitchen raid and then we'll go play some Playstation." He didn't wait for Ryan to respond, just expected Ryan to follow him out of the pool house and into the main house. And Ryan did. As soon as they stepped into the kitchen, Seth began to pull out snacks and poured chips and pretzels into bowls.

"Oh!" Seth said excitedly. "Rosa made chocolate chip cookies!" Ryan had noticed the older woman in the kitchen during the day, and she had given him a small smile and wave as he had been swimming. "Excellent. Hey, can you get out the milk for me?" Ryan reached into the refrigerator, pulling out the milk and handing it to Seth who poured two glasses. Ryan helped Seth balance the bowls of food as they made their way into the living room and Seth turned on the game and handed Ryan a controller.

"Thanks," Ryan said taking it and settling back against the couch. For a minute, with a game controller in one hand, and a handful of chips in the other, he almost felt his age. For a minute, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to live here, and take Mrs. Cohen up on her offer.

They had been playing for almost two hours when the front door opened and both of Seth's parents came in.

"That's weird," Seth commented when his mom and dad appeared in the doorway together. "You're both home at the same time. You're never both home at the same time."

"Ryan, we'd like to talk to you," Sandy said placing a hand on the small of his wife's back and leading her further into the living room.

"That's my cue to leave," Seth said standing up and grabbing a cookie for the road. He scurried out of the living room leaving Ryan alone with the two adults.

"We've been thinking," Kirsten started, taking a seat in the chair across from Ryan. "We'd really like it if you would stay here with us. Go to school with Seth."

"I can't," Ryan interrupted.

"Why not?" Sandy asked. Ryan turned his attention away from Kirsten to Sandy.

"Because…because I just…I just can't."

"Well, that's a really good reason," Sandy replied sarcastically. "Unfortunately it won't work. Listen, we don't want to have to do this, but you are a minor, and we could, if we have to, go to social services." Ryan opened his mouth to argue, he wished that he had never come back here with Sandy, but Sandy put a hand up to stop any argument. "Listen to me, kid, we want you to stay here with us. We want you to go to Harbor with Seth, and we want you to go to college."

"I can't afford college, and I can't let you pay for it," Ryan said stubbornly. Kirsten felt like they were going in circles with Ryan.

"Then work and get a scholarship," she said frustrated. "Going to Harbor would give you an excellent chance of getting a scholarship. You're a smart kid."

"How do you know that? You don't know anything about me," Ryan argued. He couldn't understand why these people wanted to help him. Sure, he had good timing and had scared away Mrs. Cohen's attacker before he could do any real damage, but they had done enough already to make up for it. Dinner, and a place to stay for a couple of nights was enough. They didn't have to do anymore. And they certainly didn't have to let him stay with them and pay for him to attend a fancy private school.

"I know more about you than you think," Sandy said. "I've looked at your test scores, and they're good. You're smart. I know that you've been given a rotten deal in life, and I know that you deserve better. You and me, kid, we're cut from the same deck. I came from nothing and I got a few lucky breaks, and I worked hard, and look where I ended up. I've got everything I could ever possibly need." Sandy looked at his wife, and took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "What we're offering you, it's a chance at something better for yourself. Consider meeting Kirsten your lucky break, and take it."

"Don't say that you can't," Kirsten said softly. "Because you can. Sandy and I have discussed it, and we want you to stay here. Seth wants you to stay here too, right Seth?"

"It's true," Seth's voice called from the kitchen where he had been eavesdropping. Kirsten rolled her eyes and turned back to Ryan.

"All you have to do is say yes, kid," Sandy said. "Say yes, and we'll go down to social services and become your legal guardians. Say yes, and we'll call Harbor and have you take a placement exam. Just say yes." Ryan sighed, and looked at Sandy and Kirsten, and then to the doorway where Seth was peering around the corner. Whatever they were offering had to be better than what was waiting for him down in Chino. But he did have a job there, and a life, and a house. It wasn't as simple as they were making it seem.

"But what about…"

"What?" Kirsten asked.

"What about my job, and my house, and…I have somewhere to live, and I have a way to support myself, I don't need…I'm not a child."

"You are only sixteen," Sandy said. "To me, that is still a child. You can get a better job after you graduate. We're not taking no for an answer here kid. So just do us the favor and say yes." Ryan took a deep breath, and gave a small smile. What did he have to lose?

"Yes," he finally said. "Okay. I'll stay here for awhile."

* * *

Okay, I'm going to go get some ice for my poor mouth. Please review and let me know what you thought, and if you think I should keep going. Thanks! 


	7. Getting settled

All right, here's the next chapter. I'm moving into school on Friday, but I'm going to try to get another chapter in before I leave. If not, you'll just have to hold your horses until I get settled at school. Of course, the more reviews I get, the more willing I'll be to write another chapter before Friday. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Review please!

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. Not even close.

* * *

"So today, we have to go to Harbor, and get you enrolled," Kirsten said coming into the kitchen and grabbing the pot of coffee. Ryan looked up at her from where he was sitting eating cereal next to Seth. "You're only going to be a few weeks behind. School only started less than a month ago. And then we have to go and get you a suit for the party on Saturday. Because I don't think either Sandy or Seth's suits will fit you."

"You don't have to do that," Ryan said shaking his head. He was still reeling from their decision last night that he would stay with the Cohens. It all felt so surreal. He made a mental note to call Teresa later and tell her what had happened. She was really the only person in Chino that might wonder where he had gone. His brother and father were in jail, and his mother was God knows where, and here he was, sitting in the kitchen of a million dollar house talking about going shopping and school. Such mundane things, but they were all new to Ryan. And he couldn't believe this was where he was. The last few days were a blur to him, and he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact for at least the foreseeable future, this was where he was going to stay.

"What party?" Seth whined.

"Vegas Night," Kirsten answered. "And before you ask, yes, you are going. Don't try to weasel your way out of it." Seth grumbled as he got up to place his bowl in the sink. "And yes Ryan, you have to have a suit, and you'll need other things too. Shirts, and pants, and underpants."

"Mom, don't say underpants," Seth complained.

"And the pool house is so impersonal, are you sure you don't want a room in the house?" They had asked Ryan the night before if he wanted to move into the main house, but he had politely declined. Living in their pool house was one thing, but living in the house with the family was another thing. At least with the pool house he maintained some sort of independence.

"I'm sure," Ryan answered. Kirsten sighed, not bothering to hide the fact that she didn't agree with his decision.

"Well, then we'll have to get you some new bedding, and a desk because you'll have homework. And maybe some posters? How's the bed? Is it comfortable?"

"It's fine," Ryan answered automatically. Kirsten nodded. Sandy came into the kitchen and gave Kirsten a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello all," he said cheerfully as he too reached for the pot of coffee.

"Hi sweetie," Kirsten said. "Are you in court today?"

"No, not today," Sandy said. The fact that Seth was sitting at the table, still in the room despite his parents entering it, had not slipped past his attention. Seth made it a point to avoid any and all contact with his parents. He couldn't help the grin that plastered itself on his face. "I have to go down to Social Services today." That caught both Seth and Ryan's attentions and both the boys' heads jerked up. Ryan wondered if they had changed their minds. Or at least, if Sandy had changed his mind. Bringing him home, it seemed like that had been mostly Kirsten's doing, and he wondered if Sandy didn't really agree with his wife. He told himself that he was being ridiculous. Kirsten was just talking about bedding and enrolling him in Seth's school. They wanted him to stay. Both of them.

"What for?" Seth asked.

"Because Ryan is still a minor, and we have to discuss what needs to be done for him to stay with us," Sandy explained. Ryan sagged with relief.

"If it's too much trouble…" Ryan began.

"No," Sandy said immediately, gently but firmly. "It's not too much trouble. Don't worry about it kid." Kid, Ryan thought. It had been a long time since anyone, including himself, considered him a kid. But Ryan nodded and smiled slightly. Kid, he liked it. He could get used to it. "Well, I should go. You're going to take them to school?" Kirsten nodded, taking the last sip of her coffee.

"Yes, Seth, are you almost ready?" Seth nodded and ran off to get his book bag.

"Have a good day sweetie," Sandy said giving Kirsten a kiss goodbye. "And good luck Ryan." Ryan looked up at Kirsten panicked.

"Good luck? Why would I need luck?"

"You're going to have to take the entrance exams," Kirsten said. She gave him a gentle smile. "I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors. Everyone has to take them. It's a fairly prestigious school. If you graduate from Harbor, you can go to any school in the UC system. Maybe even an Ivy league."

"I don't think I'm Ivy League material," Ryan said with a wry smile.

"After a few years at Harbor you could be," Kirsten said. "But anyway, don't worry about it. You'll be fine." She left the kitchen to get her briefcase and jacket and Ryan finished his cereal and sighed. It was certainly different from his last school. At Chino Hills, all he had to do was show up. Seth came back in the kitchen and grinned at Ryan.

"I really hope you get in," he said. "I'm sure you will. It'll be awesome having you at school with me." Seth seemed so excited about it, that Ryan could do nothing but give him a small smile and nod.

"I hope I get in too," he said. Ryan couldn't actually see what the big deal with Harbor was. To him, school was school. Where he was from, it wasn't important where you went to school. It didn't even matter if you went at all. This whole private, elitist high school thing was a foreign concept. One of many things in the Cohen home that he couldn't quite wrap his head around.

"Are you guys ready? Let's go," Kirsten said appearing with her purse and keys. The ride to the school was short, and all three got out of the car and headed towards the school.

"This is your school?" Ryan asked incredulously looking around at the lush courtyard.

"Hopefully our school dude, and yes, this is Harbor," Seth said with disdain.

"We have to go this way Ryan," Kirsten said pointing.

"I'll see you later," Seth said waving as he headed in the other direction. Kirsten led Ryan past students to the administrator's offices and they waited outside for the headmaster. The door finally opened and Dr. Kim, Ryan presumed, appeared.

"Kirsten, lovely to see you as always," she said stretching out her hand for Kirsten to shake. "You must be Ryan. Come on in." Kirsten gave Ryan a reassuring smile, and squeezed his arm before following Dr. Kim into the lavish offices. It was different from Chino Hills, that was for sure.

"Your grades are borderline, but acceptable," Dr. Kim said looking over the folder that Chino Hills had sent over on Ryan. "It worries me that you didn't enroll in school for this year at your old high school. I wonder about your commitment to your studies."

"Ryan's in a completely different situation than he was before," Kirsten spoke up. "And Sandy and I will make sure that he is committed to his studies." Dr. Kim nodded and then looked at Ryan again.

"I'll work as hard as I can," he promised softly.

"Your test scores do show promise," Dr. Kim said. "We'll schedule the placement test for tomorrow morning. If you are offered admission, I would like to get you enrolled as soon as possible so that you aren't too behind." He only listened vaguely when Dr. Kim explained what the test would be like. He was sure that Kirsten would remember what time he was supposed to be there tomorrow, and then they said goodbye and headed out of the office. Kirsten lagged slightly to say hello the receptionist and as Ryan headed out of the office, he ran right into something. Actually, he had run right into someone.

"Sorry," he said looking up to see who it was that he had run into. It was a girl. A very pretty girl. She smiled at him.

"No problem, I wasn't looking where I was going either," she said shrugging. "Do I know you?"

"Oh Marissa!" Kirsten said coming up to the two teenagers. "This is Ryan, he's going to be staying with us from now on. Ryan, this is Marissa Cooper, she lives next door." Staying with us from now on, Ryan repeated in his head. How very vague. Maybe he could pretend to be the cousin from Portland. Or the nephew from Boston. Pretend that he belonged.

"Nice to meet you," Ryan said.

"You too. Are you going to go here?"

"Hopefully," Kirsten replied for him. "He's supposed to take the placement test tomorrow."

"It's not bad," Marissa assured him. "I'm sure you'll do fine. I'd better go. Bye Kirsten."

"Bye Marissa." Marissa smiled at Kirsten, and then turned her attention to Ryan.

"See you around." With that, she disappeared further into the offices and Kirsten placed a hand on Ryan's back and led him out of the offices and to the car.

"Marissa's a nice girl," Kirsten said as they pulled out of the parking lot. "But she's had a lot of things go wrong lately in her life. So I would just…be careful with her…of her."

"What happened?" Ryan asked curiously. He had recognized the sadness in Marissa's eyes. He had noticed that her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Her dad got into some financial trouble, legal trouble actually, and everyone found out at cotillion. If that isn't bad enough, her mother is in the process of leaving her dad, and she…" Kirsten bit her lip, wondering how much she should tell Ryan. She looked over at him, only to find him watching her expectantly. "Well, before school started this year, she and some friends went down to Tijuana, and I'm not sure what happened, but she palmed some pain killers and washed them down with vodka."

"Did she mean to kill herself?" Ryan asked. Kirsten looked over at him surprised.

"Well, I suppose so," Kirsten said. "I mean, she didn't accidentally do it. She knew what she was doing." Ryan shrugged.

"That still doesn't mean she actually wanted to kill herself," he said.

"No," Kirsten said slowly. "I guess it doesn't. But either way, her parents are getting her some help." Ryan nodded and Kirsten smiled at him, eager to change the subject from the chaos that was currently the Cooper family. "So where to first?" Ryan shrugged again.

"You tell me," he said smiling back at her. But he couldn't stop thinking about Marissa Cooper. He was always a sucker for the damsel in distress. He was always attracted to girls who were in the process of falling apart. He liked to pretend that he could help piece them back together. He had tried it with his family too, tried to be the only stable one, tried to put his mother back together after a rough night of drinking. Tried to stop his brother from doing the stupid things that eventually landed Trey in jail. Tried desperately to pretend that he could hold all the dysfunctional Atwoods together, only to learn, suddenly and heartbreakingly, that he couldn't. No one could. Ryan only too aware of the fact that he had a hero complex, and he could just tell that Marissa Cooper was going to be trouble.

* * *

They came home hours later, Kirsten's car loaded with bags. As she pulled into the driveway, Ryan spotted Sandy's car parked.

"Oh, Sandy's home," Kirsten said. "I wonder why."

"When does he normally come home?" Ryan asked. He had had a nice time with Kirsten, to his surprise. They had talked about her job, and he admitted to an interest in architecture. She had offered to take him on an architectural tour of Newport, and they had even stopped by a model home that her company was in the middle of building.

"It should be finished soon," Kirsten said sighing. "If I can find new contractors."

"It'll be beautiful," Ryan said looking up at the high ceilings and imagining what it would be like when it was completely done. Kirsten had beamed at him.

"Thanks," she said. "I think so too."

"Um, dinnertime, sometimes later depending on what he's working on," Kirsten said now as she parked next to Sandy's car. Ryan was still slightly uncomfortable with Sandy's presence. His history with men did not lead him trust easily, and though from what he saw Sandy was a good guy, who loved his wife and provided for his family, Ryan was unconsciously waiting for him to turn into what every other man in his life had been. He just wasn't quite as comfortable around Sandy as he was Kirsten. He wondered if it was because of his wariness of men, or just because it seemed that he and Kirsten were a lot more alike than he and Sandy were.

The front door opened as Kirsten and Ryan unloaded all his bags, and Sandy came out and gave Kirsten a kiss on the cheek and took the heavy bags from her.

"Did you leave anything in the store?" He asked groaning as they made their way through the house and to the pool house.

"Yes," Kirsten replied. "I left the empty hangers. Oh those bags are mine." She pointed to a few, and Sandy's eyes widened at the sight of a familiar striped pink bag. Ryan's eyes widened too, and he wondered when she had slipped to Victoria's Secret.

"Well, why don't you guys come in, I have to talk to both of you," Sandy said. He picked up the pink bag, and peeked inside and his smile grew wider. Kirsten grabbed the rest of her bags and they headed into the kitchen.

"How did your trip to social services go?" Kirsten asked as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water, offering one to Ryan, which he accepted, and immediately began to nervously pick at the label.

"It went well," Sandy said nodding. "That's what I need to talk to you about though. See, Ryan, in order for you to live with us, we need to become your legal guardians."

"I can't ask you to do that," Ryan said shaking his head. This was getting more and more complicated. It was one thing to live with them and go to school, but now they were taking legal responsibility for him, and paying for a lavish private school education. There was no way that he would ever be able to pay them back for al that they were doing.

"You're not asking, we're offering," Sandy said. "I'm asking you if that would be okay." Ryan looked from Kirsten to Sandy and then slowly nodded.

"If you're sure that it's not…"

"It's not," Kirsten interrupted. She smiled at him and then gave him a hug. "We're happy to do this."

"We have to go down tomorrow and sign the papers," Sandy said to Kirsten. "Get everything in order." Kirsten nodded and Sandy shook Ryan's hand.

"Welcome to the family kid," he said smiling. "Now tell me all about how your meeting with Dr. Kim went."

* * *

The next day Sandy drove Ryan to the school for his placement test. Seth was turned in his seat the entire way to Harbor offering Ryan advice and words of encouragement.

"It'll be fine," Seth said. "If people like Luke Ward can pass, than you certainly can. Cause that kid shaves his chest."

"What does that have to do with being able to take a test?" Sandy asked laughing a little. Seth shrugged.

"It denotes a lack of brain cells Dad," Seth explained. "It also shows that he's a tool."

"Well, I don't know about that, but I know that you'll pass," Sandy said. "You've been living in the Cohen house now for almost a week. Some of our inherent wisdom and genius is bound to have started to sink in."

"True," Seth said nodding. "We Cohens are nothing if not wise." Ryan snorted in the back, enjoying the banter.

Almost a week. He had been there since that fateful night that he called Kirsten to ask her if he could stay the night. Five days ago. Five days with this crazy, but endearing family. With this family that was willing to take him in. It amazed him. His own family didn't want anything to do with him, but this family was going out of their way to make him a part of theirs.

"All right kid, here we are," Sandy said parking the car and leading the way. "You ready?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Ryan said shrugging. "Let's go get this over with."

"You'll text message me the result as soon as you know, right?" Seth requested.

"Yeah," Ryan promised. "Sure."

"Great," Seth grinned as he went off to class. Ryan sighed, resigned himself to his fate, and followed Sandy.

A little over an hour later, as Sandy sat outside, reading over documents that he had brought with him, and nervously checking the time every few minutes, the door opened and Ryan came out.

"So? Are you a Harbor Pirate?" Sandy asked.

"They named themselves the Pirates?" Ryan asked incredulously.

"Come on kid, don't leave me hanging here," Sandy said smiling at him.

"I'm in," Ryan said, and he couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. Sandy surprised him by throwing his arms around Ryan and patting him on the back.

"Way to go," he said. "Now you better text message Seth, or else we'll never hear the end of it. And then I'll call Kirsten, and maybe we can meet her for lunch to celebrate. And then Kirsten and I can head down to Social Services and sign the necessary papers for you to be able to stay." Ryan sent the message to Seth, and then handed the phone back to Sandy. Sandy dialed his wife's number, and she picked up on the first ring and asked immediately,

"Did he get in?"

"He got in," Sandy confirmed, grinning at Ryan. Ryan, who wasn't used to the attention, turned bright red and looked out the window and away from Sandy's gaze. "What are you doing for lunch? We'll come pick you up? Celebratory meal?" Ryan could only hear Sandy's side of the conversation, but from what he heard, Kirsten had agreed, and they were on their way to the Newport Group's offices to pick her up.

Sandy called when they pulled up and she said that she was just finishing up something and she would be down in a second.

"So this is where Kirsten works, huh?" Ryan said gazing up at the lavish building.

"Yes, consider this her castle, or well her father's castle, and all of Orange County as their empire," Sandy said. "This is where the magic happens." His grin suddenly faltered and Ryan followed Sandy's stare to where an older man was crossing over to the car. "Oh here comes my favorite person in the world." Ryan looked confused, as Sandy tried to duck down in his seat.

"Sanford, I can see you in the car," the man's booming voice called out. Kirsten appeared in the doorway to the Newport Group and realization dawned on her face as she saw her father standing by the car. "I see you trying to hide." Kirsten hurried over.

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

"I told you, I want to take a more active part in the Newport Group again," Caleb said. "Where are going?"

"To lunch," Sandy said rolling down his window. It was then that Caleb looked past Sandy and saw Ryan for the first time.

"Who are you?" Caleb barked.

"Well, Dad," Kirsten said smiling nervously at her father. "This is Ryan. I told you about Ryan. He worked at the construction site? He was there the night I was attacked?"

"Oh yes," Caleb said. "I understand all of that, but why is he sitting in your car?" Kirsten gave Ryan an apologetic smile, before turning back to her father. He would not take the news of Ryan staying with them very well. In fact, she could foresee yelling, and she knew, unfortunately, that Ryan would take the brunt of her father's disapproval. So she took a deep breath, and tried to brace herself for his reaction, wishing that she had some way to warn Ryan about what was going to come next. But short of telecommunication, she had nothing.

"Ryan's going to be staying with us from now on."


	8. Reactions

I know some of you weren't too happy to see Marissa in the last chapter, but she had to come up at some point...Anyway, aren't you happy I got this done before I moved back? I'm supposed to be finishing packing right now, but I'm a procrastinator, so I'm doing this instead. Review and let me know what you thought! Thanks!

* * *

Caleb looked taken aback for a moment, and turned from his daughter to the kid in the front seat of the car, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else but there at the moment.

"What does that mean?" Caleb asked slowly.

"Well, Dad, Ryan's going to be living with us. Sandy and I are going to be his legal guardians," Kirsten said calmly.

"What's wrong the boy's parents?" Caleb asked harshly. "Where are they at?"

"They're not capable to take care of him," Sandy said stepping in. "So we're going to take care of him."

"Dad, can you come with me for a second?" Kirsten asked, not waiting for an answer and leading her father away from the car. "He's a good kid Dad, a good kid whose been stuck with a lousy lot in life. Once you get to know him, you'll see that."

"Once I get to know him? Kiki, how long have _you _known this boy? How do you know this isn't a scam? He could be casing the house." Caleb shook his head. "This is all that do-gooder that you call a husband's fault."

"No! I took him home, this was my idea. My doing," Kirsten said getting frustrated with her father.

"Oh please," Caleb sneered. "This reeks of Sandy Cohen. Taking in a stray kid. How do you know he's not going to hurt you? How do you know that it's safe to let him into your home? Jesus, Kirsten, have you thought about Seth?"

"He's a kid, Dad, a kid with no family and no where to go!" Kirsten exclaimed rubbing her temples. "He's just a kid, and let's not forget that he did save me. If he hadn't been there that night...I could have been…" Caleb held up his hand to stop her. He didn't need to be reminded of what could have happened if this Ryan hadn't been there. He supposed he did owe the kid some gratitude. Caleb sighed.

"You're sure about this? This Ryan?" Caleb gestured over to the car.

"Yes," Kirsten said nodding. "More than I've ever been sure of anything. And I did think of Seth. He's really good for Seth."

"Taking in a kid, that's something your mother would have done," Caleb finally relented.

"Yeah, but she would have done it just to piss you off," Kirsten replied letting a small smile creep onto her face. "I have to go Dad. Give him a chance." Caleb grunted in reply, and it was more than Kirsten had been expecting, so she just gave him a smile and a kiss on the cheek and walked back over to where her husband and Ryan were waiting for her.

"Let's go," she said smiling at the two of them. Sandy studied her, as if he was checking to see if she was okay, and she gave him a small smile and nodded. "Everything's okay," she said softly taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "I'm starved. Let's go eat."

* * *

Seth was home when the three returned home later from lunch and their trip to Social Services.

"Dude, you passed that's so awesome!" Seth exclaimed as soon as they walked in the door. Ryan just smiled and nodded. "Do you know how very cool this is?" Seth was jumping from foot to foot again, something that Ryan was quickly recognizing as a sign that he was excited. "Hey, to celebrate, maybe we can take the car tonight?" He smiled innocently at his parents, and Kirsten hadn't seen him this happy in so long that she had to agree.

"Yes, you can have the car tonight," she said fishing in her purse for the keys and handing them to Seth.

"Excellent," Seth grinned.

"Are you guys going to stay for dinner?" Sandy asked sorting through the mail.

"No way, big night ahead of us, Dad, can't do a family dinner," Seth said the last two words as if they were poisoned. But to Ryan, a family dinner sounded wonderful. "Come on Ryan, let's hit the road."

"Be back before eleven," Kirsten called as they walked away. As the door shut behind the boys, Sandy turned to his wife and wrapped his arms around her.

"The house all to ourselves huh?" He said leaning in to give her a kiss. "Whatever should we do?" Kirsten grinned back at him.

"I can think of a few things," she told him tugging at his tie. Suddenly she stopped and frowned, and Sandy had to stop himself from audibly groaning.

"What's the matter honey?" He asked trying to unbutton her shirt and seem sympathetic at the same time.

"We're doing the right thing, right? Taking Ryan in? I mean, I know that I sort of sprung it on you, and the whole thing was very sudden, but you're okay with him being here, right? It's just that he's such a good kid, a smart kid, and there's something about him, you know? Like I just want to make everything that's wrong in his life better, I want to…I just want to give him a chance. It's a good thing, right? For all of us?" Sandy stopped trying to undress his wife, and looked at her seriously, cupping her face in his hands. He loved when his normally confident wife suddenly got very insecure, which generally happened when she felt passionately about something. He knew that Kirsten had already accepted Ryan as a part of her family. Something that she didn't do lightly, and he wondered if Ryan knew that. If he knew how big of a deal it was that Kirsten had let him into the family, and had done it so quickly, so instinctively.

"God, Kirsten I love you," he said. "It's a good thing. For all of us. You and me, and Seth, we needed him. We didn't know it, but we did. And you're right, he's a good kid. He deserves a chance, he deserves so much more than that." He kissed her and pulled her close to him. "And we're going to give him that chance; we're going to give him a part of his childhood back." It was exactly what Kirsten had needed to hear. Her father had placed some doubt in her head, just like he always did. Caleb had an uncanny ability to make Kirsten doubt herself in all of her decisions, even ones that she was sure about. The more she thought about it the rest of the afternoon, the more her father's words started to sink in. How well did they know Ryan? She and Sandy did rush into the decision that Ryan would live with them. They hadn't really thought it through, and she knew that they had just gotten in way over their heads.

But she knew that she had made the right choice. She knew, immediately and instinctively, that there was something about Ryan, something that made him special. A hidden sweetness that went against his rough childhood. He was gentle, and he was kind, and she felt a connection almost immediately, something that usually never happened with her. She just needed Sandy to confirm for her that she was doing the right thing. Needed Sandy to replace her father's voice in her head, and remind her that Ryan deserved this, deserved them.

Kirsten nodded, and then smiled at her husband. She tugged on his tie and he suddenly remembered his growing interest in undressing her.

"Come on," she said. "We'll fire up the hot tub, grab some wine? We have a few hours before the boys come home. Let's make the most of it." Boys. It rolled so easily off her tongue. There were two now. Plural. Boys. She smiled again at the sound of it, and pulled Sandy by the tie up the stairs to their bedroom.

* * *

It was the next morning, as Seth and Ryan stepped out of the house to wait for Kirsten to drive them to school, that Ryan had his second encounter with the girl next door. She was climbing into a Jeep when she spotted them and waved.

"Do you need a ride to school?" She offered. Ryan looked at Seth, who looked too shocked that Marissa was speaking to him to reply. Ryan shrugged at Seth and called back to Marissa,

"Sure, hold on one second." He darted back into the house and called out to Kirsten that Marissa was going to drive them to school. Kirsten frowned briefly at Sandy before calling out her goodbyes to Seth and Ryan.

Marissa, meanwhile, had pulled up to the driveway and Seth had already climbed in the back.

"I have to go pick up Summer, you don't mind do you?" Marissa asked.

"Summer?" Seth squeaked. He cleared his throat before continuing. Now was not the time to go all Peter Brady. "No, I don't mind." Neither Marissa or Ryan missed the grin that was on Seth's face for the rest of the ride to Summer's house.

"So you got in?" Marissa said as she drove the familiar streets to Summer's.

"Yeah," Ryan said nodding.

"Did the book bag or the fact that he accepted an offer for a ride to school tip you off first?" Seth mumbled from the backseat. Ryan shot him a death glare from the front seat. Marissa just ignored him.

"So are you going to Vegas Night on Saturday?" Marissa asked. "I mean, I know that Kirsten is in charge, or whatever, and I just assumed that you'd be going."

"Didn't we just have Vegas Night?" Seth complained. "Or was that Monte Carlo night? Or wait, when did we have Casino night? I'm so confused. But those Newpsies, they do love their booze and gambling."

"I'm going," Ryan confirmed, taking Marissa's lead and ignoring Seth in the backseat. "Kirsten made me buy a suit."

"Good," Marissa said. "I mean that you're going, not that you bought a new suit, or I guess that's good too…I…" Marissa laughed a little and shook her head. "Anyway, I'm glad that you'll be there. My mom is making me go." She rolled her eyes. They pulled into Summer's driveway and Marissa beeped the horn twice and Summer came out. She spotted Seth and Ryan in the car, and immediately scowled. She climbed in the back and glared at Seth.

"What is he doing here?" She asked.

"I think I'm going to school," Seth answered with a small smile on his face.

"I didn't ask you Sal."

"It's Seth."

"Whatever, Steve." She glanced up into the front seat and her scowl was replaced by a grin. "Who are you?"

"Ryan," Marissa answered for him. "He just moved here. He's staying with the Cohens. Ryan this is Summer, Sum, this is Ryan." Ryan turned in his seat to see the girl that he had heard Seth babbling about for days now. She was cute, but definitely not his type. Seth just sat there staring at her.

"Nice to meet you," Summer said still grinning at Ryan.

"You too," Ryan said turning back to face front again. They remained quiet for the rest of the short trip to school. When they got there, Seth led Ryan away to get his class schedule and to basically show him around and Summer interrogated Marissa for more information on Ryan.

"Where is he from? Why is he staying with the Cohens?"

"I don't know," Marissa answered as she and Summer made their way across the courtyard. "I don't know anything about him. He's new, and he's staying with Seth's family. That's all I know."

"Well, I'm going to find out more," Summer said grinning mischievously. "You don't mind, do you Coop? I mean, you sort of spotted him first." She glanced across the courtyard and spotted Seth and Ryan.

"I don't mind," Marissa said, but she was staring at Ryan, and Summer could see that she truly didn't mean that. "I swore off boys for awhile, remember? After Mexico…" Summer held up her hand. She didn't need to be reminded of what had happened on their little trip down across the border.

"I remember. Well, I have to get to class, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Marissa said smiling as she headed in the opposite direction of Summer. She did swear off boys after she caught Luke and Holly down in Tijuana together. But there was something about Ryan. Something that made her want to reconsider her standpoint on the whole boy issue. Made her want to find out his story, why he was staying with the Cohens. Where he came from. She shook her head, she couldn't think about Ryan, she had too many other things to worry about. She didn't need to add another one. Summer could have him if she wanted.

Marissa didn't care.

Not at all.

Summer could have him.

She wondered how she was going to convince everyone else that she didn't care, when she couldn't even convince herself of it.

* * *

Okay, so review please. I'm off to pack. Probably. Unless something better comes along.


	9. Dawn

Sorry, I meant to get this up sooner, but school started, and with all the unpacking and such, and then I had total writers' block, so hopefully you all approve of this chapter, and please review and let me know what you thought of it! Thanks

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I don't even own an umbrella right now, and it's been raining for the past three days.

* * *

Kirsten was home when the boys got home from their first day of school. She had been anxiously awaiting their return to see how Ryan's first day had gone. She was on her third cup of coffee, and she was tapping her foot nervously to an invisible beat when she heard a car pull into the driveway and Ryan's voice thanking Marissa for driving them home. Kirsten fought the urge to go stand in the front hallway to greet them as soon as they stepped in, and instead feigned interest in the newspaper that was in front of her. The front door opened and she heard Seth talking about some excitedly.

Ryan was good for him, she decided suddenly. She glanced at the clock. She hadn't been home this early from work in as long as she could remember. Ryan was good for all of them.

"Hey boys, how was school?" Kirsten asked glancing up as they walked in.

"Mother, you're home. To what do we owe the honor of seeing you this early?" Seth asked grabbing a pudding cup from the refrigerator. Kirsten shrugged.

"I just wanted to be here when you guys got home," Kirsten said smiling at both of them. Seth raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"School was okay," he answered shrugging.

"How about you Ryan? What did you think of Harbor?"

"It was fine."

"How were your classes?" Kirsten pushed.

"Fine," Ryan shrugged again. Kirsten wanted to sigh in frustration, but contained herself.

"Well, did you have any trouble with any of it?" Seth was watching the exchange with amusement, knowing that Ryan's monosyllabic answers were driving his mother crazy.

"No," Ryan said. Kirsten knew that she wasn't going to get anything more out of Ryan, and instead turned to Seth.

"Anything exciting happen today?" She asked.

"There's that new girl," Seth said. "Anna? I was her escort at cotillion? Anyway, she's back from her little sailing trip. She's in a bunch of my classes." Kirsten smiled at her son, remembering the cute little blonde who had just moved to Newport from Pittsburgh and had required a date. Seth, as the only available boy who wasn't already paired up with someone, had been picked to be Anna's last minute escort. After all the excitement died down, Seth had told his parents he was going to walk Anna home. Kirsten had grinned at Sandy, and squeezed his arm, and watched as her beloved son walked away grinning and babbling on happily about comic books and Tahiti. He looked happy. Kirsten almost wanted to seek out Anna and hug her and kiss her for being the first person in Newport his age to make him smile like that.

Now Ryan was the second, and Kirsten thanked whatever deity was listening for allowing her to meet Ryan, and setting up the circumstances that led to him staying with her family.

"Oh, and Marissa totally has a thing for Ryan," Seth said.

"She does?" Kirsten raised an eyebrow wondering if this was going to be a good thing for Ryan. Ryan started vehemently shaking his head.

"She does not," he said.

"Yes she does," Seth argued back. "She even sat with us at lunch." Seth had actually sat outside with the rest of his fellow classmates, instead of hiding out in the library during lunch hoping not to be spotted by Luke or any of his cronies. Marissa had approached the table where he and Ryan and Anna sat and asked if she could sit with them, and Summer soon followed, not wanting to leave her best friend. Ryan gave Summer credit for that, however shallow she was, and she was, she was a good friend. A loyal friend. She had stopped being friends with Holly as soon as Tijuana happened, and she knew that Marissa was currently on the outs of the popular crowd, but Summer still chose her friend over popularity. They had actually had a nice lunch, even Summer smiled and laughed along with the rest of them.

"She does not," Ryan said firmly.

"It's okay if she does," Kirsten said giving him a small smile, all the while thinking to herself that she prayed that Marissa would get interested in someone else and not drag Ryan down into her and her family's current downward spiral.

"We just have a lot of the same classes," Ryan said defensively. "She's not into me." He gave Seth a death glare, and Seth wisely shut his mouth.

"So what's for dinner?" Seth asked changing the subject for Ryan's benefit.

"I was thinking Thai," Kirsten said handing over the menu to Ryan and Seth. "Circle what you like. I'll go pick it up." As the three of them poured over the menu, Sandy came home.

"Hello family," he said as he gave Kirsten a kiss and clapped Ryan on the back. Ryan flinched, and Sandy's smile failed. Ryan berated himself silently. He had to remember that this wasn't his old house, and Sandy wasn't like the men in his life before. He was a good guy. Ryan wondered if he could say it enough so that it would stick in his head. He's a good guy. He's a good father, and a good husband.

"I'm sorry kid, I didn't mean to startle you," Sandy said immediately, looking at Kirsten for some clue as to what to do.

"No, I'm sorry," Ryan forced a smile. "I'm just being…stupid."

"You're not being stupid," Kirsten interjected. "This house…it's different from the ones you've been in before. But it's going to take some time for you to understand that and accept it. And we understand that, Ryan, we understand how hard it is. Take as much time as you need to, and don't apologize." She looked then at Sandy and gave him a smile. "We all just need to remember that it's all new. For all of us." Ryan nodded his head slightly, and Sandy smiled at his wife. God he loved her. He couldn't help but pull her into his arms and give her a kiss on the cheek. Seth had been silent throughout the whole exchange, and he finally spoke up.

"Hey, I'm starving, are we going to order food or what? Before I have to go ask the neighbors for thirty cents a day to feed me," Seth quipped. "Adopt a Seth."

"You think you could live on thirty cents a day?" Sandy asked laughing at his son.

"Sure. I'm a simple man, Dad. I'm not held down by worldly possessions." Kirsten knew that Seth was putting on a show to lighten the mood, and she could have kissed her son for it.

"Right, so if I took away your Ipod, and your Playstation, and your comic books…"

"Okay, so maybe I'm not that simple," Seth conceded. "But I am hungry."

"Okay, okay, give me the menu, I'll go get the food," Kirsten said snatching it out of Seth's hands. "Do you have everything circled that you want?"

"Yes," Seth nodded.

"Does anyone want to come with me?" Kirsten asked. No one spoke up immediately until Ryan said softly,

"I'll come." Kirsten beamed.

"Great, we'll be back with the food," she said leading the way to the car. "Thanks for coming with me."

"No problem," Ryan said.

"I just hate going alone, and I already told Seth he was going to the party on Saturday, so there's no need for him to suck up to get out of it. Generally bribery or blackmail is the only way to get Seth to do anything with me."

"So this party on Saturday," Ryan started as Kirsten backed down the driveway. "What's it for?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you having this Monte Carlo thing? Just to have it?"

"Oh, you mean the Vegas Night party," Kirsten said smiling at him. "Well, it's for charity."

"What charity?" Ryan asked. Kirsten frowned as she tried to remember, and then giggled.

"You know, I don't know," Kirsten said. "I'm not in charge of this one, thank God. I did the last one."

"You have these a lot then?"

"More than I think my boys would like," Kirsten said. She offered Ryan a sympathetic smile. "You'll get used to it. Marissa is coming with her mother…" She thought that she saw Ryan turn red slightly, but she wasn't entirely sure. She pulled into the parking lot of the Thai restaurant a second later saving Ryan from any more embarrassment that day.

"I'll be right back," she promised as she hopped out of the car and headed inside. Ryan sat back in the Range Rover and admired the inside of it. Kirsten had left her phone in the car, and it started ringing, and he leaned over to see "Home" flash on the screen. He wondered if he should answer or not, and finally picked up the phone and carried it inside to Kirsten.

"You could have answered," she said as she took it. He shrugged, and shoved his hands in his pockets as he listened to her side of the conversation. "It was just Seth wanting me to add some egg rolls." She rolled her eyes. "That kid has a bottomless pit for a stomach, I swear." She added a few egg rolls to their order, and after a few minutes the man behind the counter handed her the bag of food, which Ryan knew could easily have fed him for a week back at home, and she thanked him, gave him the money, and ushered Ryan out of the restaurant.

They chatted about the party and about Kirsten's job on the way back home, and before they knew it, they were back home again.

Kirsten noticed the car in the driveway, but it was really Ryan's sharp intake of breath that caught her attention. Kirsten parked her car next to Sandy's and climbed out. Ryan was still sitting in the front seat, his knuckles white from where he was gripping the arm rests.

"Honey are you okay?" Kirsten asked concerned. She looked at the car again to see the door open and a woman with bleached blonde hair climbing out.

"What is she doing here?" Ryan asked. It only took Kirsten a second to realize who it was that was standing in her driveway. The woman made her way over to the car, and Ryan slowly undid his seatbelt and climbed out.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

* * *

Okay, so please review and let me know what you thought. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Thanks! 


	10. Vegas Night

Thank you so much for reviewing! I wanted to get this up before the start of the new season tonight (yay!) So I went away for the weekend, to visit one of my friends, and she was making me mixed drinks, and failed to tell me until the next day that the drinks that she was making had 151 in them...hmm, that seems to be helpful information to tell me from the start...No wonder I needed help standing...so it this chapter would have been up sooner, but I was still recovering from the weekend. Blame my friend and her notoriously strong drinks. Please review again and tell me what you thought! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, unfortunately.

* * *

"Ryan, baby," Dawn said. "I just came to see how my baby was doing…" Ryan looked back at Kirsten who was slowly approaching both Ryan and his mother, and then back at Dawn.

"How did you know that I was here?" Ryan asked. Seeing his mother had thrown him into a tailspin. She wasn't supposed to be here. She must want something from him, or maybe the Cohens. How did she know that he was here? And at the same time, despite himself, he was glad to see her. Glad to know that she was still okay, relieved that she was okay, and as much as he hated to admit it, relieved to know that she hadn't forgotten about him.

It was Kirsten who spoke up to answer his question, not his mother. She placed a gentle hand on his arm as she stepped up beside him.

"When Sandy and I became your legal guardians, Social Services contacted your mother," Kirsten said softly. She didn't add the last part, that Dawn happily signed away all responsibility for her son thereby allowing the Cohens to become Ryan's legal guardians. That Dawn had been drunk, and probably on some drugs, and had not thought twice before scribbling her name across a paper that would release her from ever having to think about her son again.

"Why are you here?" Ryan asked turning away from Kirsten. He couldn't help but notice all the differences between the two. His mother lurched forward, and he backed up into Kirsten stepping on her foot. He turned around and was about to open his mouth to apologize when Kirsten shook her head.

"It's okay," she said quietly.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan asked again.

"I came to see you," Dawn said.

"I don't want you here!" Ryan cried clenching his hands into fists at his side. Kirsten stood behind him, at a total loss as to what to do, how to make this better. She wished Sandy would come outside, he was so much better at diffusing situations than she was.

"Baby, please," Dawn slurred. "Please. I miss you. I miss you so much."

"You left me," Ryan said shaking his head.

"I was in a bad place then Ry, I'm better now." Both Kirsten and Ryan could both see that was a lie. The door finally opened and Sandy stepped out, and Kirsten breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why don't we come inside?" Sandy said gently taking Dawn's arm and leading her into the house. Kirsten placed a hand on Ryan's arm.

"Take some deep breaths," she instructed.

"She can't stay here," Ryan insisted, shaking his head. "She can't stay here." Kirsten didn't reply, she just nodded and led him inside the house behind Sandy and Dawn. Sandy had Dawn seated in the kitchen with a glass of water when she and Ryan entered. He stood about as far from Dawn as he could get, his arms crossed across his chest.

"Why don't we all sit down and just talk?" Sandy suggested. Kirsten nudged Ryan towards the table and gave him a reassuring smile. She hoped that he understood that they would do whatever he felt comfortable with. Personally, she wanted to rip Dawn apart for what she did to Ryan. Ryan didn't confide much, but from what he did confide, Kirsten was fairly sure that his life wasn't exactly a piece of cake before he came to live with them.

"Ryan," Dawn said reaching across the table to him. He pulled his hand away and she looked hurt as she pulled her hand back away from him. "I'm sorry about what happened. I want you to come home…" Both Kirsten and Ryan looked wide-eyed at Dawn, Kirsten slowly, and subconsciously, shook her head.

"Ryan's staying here," Sandy said gently but firmly. "We all decided that. That it would be best for him to stay here with us and finish high school." Dawn went to open her mouth, but then closed it again, and nodded. "But maybe we could work out something so that you could still see Ryan." He paused and looked over at Ryan. "On Ryan's terms, of course." They were all silent, Kirsten racking her brain for something to say, coming up with absolutely nothing.

"Can you stay for dinner?" It was Ryan's voice that asked the question, and Kirsten whipped her head around so fast that she was afraid she had just given herself whiplash. He was asking both Dawn and her and Sandy.

"Kirsten orders plenty of food," Sandy chimed in.

"I couldn't…" Dawn started shaking her head.

"Mom, stay for dinner," Ryan said, looking everywhere but at Dawn.

"If you're sure…" Dawn said.

"We're sure," Kirsten said forcing a smile.

* * *

Dinner was nothing if not awkward. It was nearly silent except for the scraping of the knives and forks against the plates, and Seth and Sandy's failed attempts to start conversations.

"So Dawn, where are you staying?" Sandy asked, trying again to break the silence.

"I'm between places right now," Dawn said smiling slightly. "I was staying with friends."

"Why don't you stay here for the night?" Sandy offered looking to his wife for confirmation. Kirsten remembered her promise to Ryan out on the driveway. He had been pretty adamant about not letting her stay there. But the offer was out there. Kirsten looked at Ryan, who was avoiding all eye contact with any of them.

"No, really, that's not necessary," Dawn said shaking her head.

"You can have the pool house," Ryan said so softly that Kirsten wasn't entirely sure that she had heard him. "I mean, if it's okay with Kirsten and Sandy."

"It's fine," Kirsten said looking to Ryan for all her cues.

"Are you sure?" It was directed at Kirsten, and not Ryan, and Kirsten nodded, and Dawn finally shrugged. "Thanks. That would be great."

"Ryan, why don't you sleep in the guest room?" Kirsten suggested. "Sandy, can you make the guest room up while I change the sheets in the pool house?" Sandy nodded, and finished the last of his wine, before excusing himself and heading upstairs. Kirsten headed out to the pool house, Dawn in tow.

"This is really nice of you Mrs. Cohen," Dawn said. "I mean as if it wasn't enough that you took in Ryan…"

"Call me Kirsten," Kirsten corrected. "And it's our pleasure. He's a great kid."

"He was always a good kid," Dawn agreed. "Smart too. He's in school now?"

"Yes, he's going to Seth's school. Harbor. It's a wonderful private school." Kirsten didn't really feel like making small talk with Ryan's abandoning mother, but she didn't have a choice as she finished making the bed.

"That's good," Dawn said nodding.

"We're going to a party tomorrow night," Kirsten said. "Why don't you come?"

"Thanks, but I don't have anything to wear," Dawn said shaking her head.

"I could find you something," Kirsten said. "It's Vegas Night."

"Vegas Night, huh?" Dawn said smiling. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure, let's go find you something," Kirsten led the way across the backyard to her and Sandy's bedroom.

"This is an amazing house," Dawn commented as she followed behind, and gazed out at the ocean.

"Thank you," Kirsten replied as she opened the door to her bedroom. Dawn continued to look wide-eyed in amazement at everything that the Cohen's had. She understood how lucky her son was to have stumbled into this family. To have them want to take him in. Kirsten disappeared into the closet and Dawn sat on the edge of the bed and took in the walk-in closet. She saw boxes of shoes on the floor. Ferragamo. Jimmy Choo. Manolo Blahnik. Purses stacked precariously on the shelf, as Kirsten was running out of room. An entire rack of full length dresses, which Kirsten was currently leafing through. Dawn somehow doubted that anything that fit Kirsten would be able to fit her, but Kirsten pulled out a black dress victoriously and handed it to Dawn to try on.

"I hope it fits," Kirsten said biting her lip. "The bathroom is right there." Dawn took the dress into the bathroom and was amazed when it fit perfectly. She stepped out to show Kirsten, who smiled.

"It fits," Dawn shrugged. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," Kirsten replied. Dawn went back into the bathroom and changed back into her clothes and handed the dress back to Kirsten who hung it up next to the tiny little red dress that she was going to wear to the party.

"I think I'm going to go lay down," Dawn said. She turned before she was out the door, faced Kirsten again. "I know what you think. You think that I'm this terrible person for abandoning him."

"I didn't…"

"No," Dawn interrupted. "No, it's okay. I am. I was his mother, and the things that I let my husband and then my boyfriends do to him…the things that I did…. He's such a good kid. He deserved so much more than me…."

"Dawn…" Kirsten didn't know what to say.

"I just want you to know, that I loved him. He's my son, and I loved him. But this whole mother thing…I'm just not wired for it. I'm a mess, not a mother. I don't have what you have. I mean, the way that your husband looks at you, your kid, hell, even my kid, like no matter what you're going to fix everything. You hold your family together… I tear mine apart…" Dawn paused, and took a deep breath. "I know that you're going to be good for him. I know that living with you is the best thing, but… but God, I'm going to miss him, you know? He's all I have left practically." Dawn shook her head. "But walking away. That's the best thing I could have done for him. Best thing I'm going to do for him."

"We're going to take good care of him," Kirsten said softly.

"I know, I know you will. I'm going to go to bed…I'll see you tomorrow…"

"Good night," Kirsten said and she waited until Dawn was back inside the pool house before going to check on her boys. Sandy was in the kitchen reading over something, and both Seth and Ryan were in the living room playing some ninja or pirate game. She walked by Sandy first, running her hand through his hair and leaning down to give him a kiss, before continuing on to the living room and giving each of the boys a kiss on the top of the head.

"Good night guys," she said as she walked back into the kitchen. Sandy caught her hand as she walked past and pulled her back to him.

"Everything okay?" He asked softly. She nodded and leaned down again to kiss him.

"Don't be too late coming to bed, okay?" It was Sandy's turn to nod, and he gave her hand one more squeeze before letting her walk away.

* * *

"Are they ready yet?" Seth complained, tugging on his tie.

"It's your mother," Sandy reminded him. "It takes literally forever for her to be ready. You know this." Just as the words exited his mouth, Kirsten cleared her throat and he looked up to see her standing looking absolutely beautiful. She smiled at him, and stepped aside and he saw Dawn. Kirsten had done a hell of a job. Dawn's hair was straight, and her makeup wasn't caked on as it had been. She looked like she could almost fit in with the Newpsies.

Almost.

"How do I look?" Dawn asked with a nervous smile on her face. The question was directed towards Ryan, who just nodded.

"You look good Mom," he said sincerely. He walked over to her and offered her his arm and she gave Kirsten a teary look before taking it and letting him lead her away. Sandy offered his arm to Kirsten and leaned in and placed a kiss on her temple.

"I guess I'll walk myself," Seth said following his parents. "That's cool."

They took two cars, the boys drove the Range Rover, in case they wanted to leave early, and the adults took the BMW. Dawn slid into the backseat of the luxury car and ran her hand over the smooth leather. She watched as Sandy opened the door for his wife and helped her into the front seat before walking around to the side and opening his door.

"So this party…it's for charity?" Dawn asked as they pulled out onto the street.

"Yes," Kirsten said. "All the money that is made goes to charity."

"Do you…do you go to parties like this often?" Dawn couldn't fathom this lifestyle that these people, and now her son, led.

"Too often," Sandy chimed in from the front. Kirsten gave him a light slap on the arm. He pulled up to the country club, and handed the keys to the valet, and they met up with the boys to walk in. Dawn let out a low gasp at the sight of the party and turned to her son.

"Are all their parties like this?" She whispered.

"Pretty much," Ryan replied nodding. Dawn spotted the bar right away, and she saw Ryan notice her spying the bar and turned to give him a confident smile.

"How about you go get us some sodas?" She requested, and she didn't miss the grin that lit up Ryan's face as he went to go get the drinks that she asked for. Dawn rubbed her hands together and reminded herself that she was to stay sober, for Ryan's sake. She owed him a night completely alcohol free at the very least. Kirsten and Sandy had disappeared into a group of people, and she watched as Kirsten kissed their cheeks and hugged them and compared dresses and purses and felt completely out of place. Ryan returned with her drink.

"Here you go," he said handing it to her. Kirsten couldn't help but watch Ryan and Dawn interact and how Ryan was torn around his mother of acting like a child and acting like the adult. It was how he always was, but for some reason it seemed to be magnified around Dawn.Dawn's visit certainly explained a lot more about Ryan, alot more that they hadn't known before. Kirsten was starting to get glimpses into Ryan's former world, and it didn't seem to be very pretty.

* * *

It was Kirsten who noticed Dawn's switch from regular soda to something else, and as she was trying to make her way over to Dawn, she kept getting interrupted by the Newpsies. She tried to get Sandy's attention, but he was too busy playing cards and Ryan was off in the corner talking to Marissa. Seth seemed to be in heaven over at a table with Summer, who had designated him her good luck charm. Kirsten zigged in between people and just as she got to Dawn, Dawn drifted away to another spot with more drinks. Kirsten finally tagged down a waiter and slipped him some money and asked him not to give anymore alcohol to Dawn.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Kirsten asked finally catching up with Dawn.

"I'm fine," Dawn slurred pushing Kirsten's hand off her shoulder. "Absolutely fine."

"Why don't I go round up Sandy and we can go home?"

"I'm winning!" Dawn cried pulling away from Kirsten completely.

"Dawn..." It was Sandy's voice that Kirsten heard, and she was thankful that he took that opportunity to show up and help her out.

"No!" Dawn threw off his hand, throwing herself off balance. She toppled into both the waiter standing there and Kirsten, taking them both down with her. Sandy reached down immediately, pulling Kirsten to her feet and checking her over all in one swift move.

"You okay?" He asked. She nodded, and turned back to Dawn and the waiter.

"Mom," Ryan said coming over and grabbing her hand and pulling her up. Dawn fought to pull away from Ryan, and Sandy finally let go of Kirsten, and grabbed Dawn's arm. To everyone's surprise, it was Luke who stepped up and grabbed her other arm, and the two men led her from the party.

"Come on honey," Kirsten said placing a hand on Ryan's back. "Let's go home."

* * *

Okay, I'll be faster with the next update. I swear. Please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks! 


	11. What now

Hopefully this isn't too bad. I'm still having trouble with the whole writer's block thing. Let me know what you thought! Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

* * *

The ride home was relatively silent. Dawn was grumbling about having to leave, Kirsten was twisting her rings nervously in the front seat, and Sandy was driving, his hands gripping the steering wheel. Kirsten wondered if she should have rode with Seth and Ryan to make sure that Ryan was okay, but she hated to leave Sandy alone with Dawn. She looked over at him, his tense posture, and she slipped her hand onto his knee and gave it a squeeze. Glancing over at her, Sandy picked up her hand and brought it to his mouth and gave it a kiss.

"I was winning," Dawn complained from the backseat for what felt to Kirsten like the thousandth time. Kirsten rolled her eyes and ignored her. Sandy pulled the car into the driveway, and walked around the car to Dawn's side. Ryan and Seth pulled up right behind him, and Ryan walked to Sandy to help get his mother into the house.

Kirsten placed an arm around Seth, and was pleasantly surprised when he let her, and they followed behind into the house. They stood and watched as Ryan and Sandy dragged Dawn to the pool house.

"How could she do this to him?" Seth asked his mother sighing as they watched through the glass as Ryan tucked Dawn in. "She's his mother! She's not supposed to get…she's supposed to look out for him." Kirsten looked at her son and Seth surprised her even further by turning and burying his head in her shoulder.

Kirsten wrapped her arms around her son and they stood there silently for a minute before Seth finally spoke up again.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"For what?" Kirsten questioned running a soothing hand up and down his back and wondering when her son had gotten so big. She had turned her back for a second and Seth was almost grown.

"For not being like her, for always…for always looking out for me, and for always putting me first," Seth was suddenly realizing how lucky he was, and for the first time realizing what Ryan's childhood had been like. Seth could complain all he wanted about his crappy existence or lack there of in Newport. He could complain about Luke and the other water polo players. But he was loved. Had always known that he was loved. When he came home with black eyes, his mother had sat down with him, holding an ice pack to his face, eating cookies, and watching a movie of Seth's choice. He doubted that it was the same when Ryan had come home with bruises. He hated that the bruises probably happened after Ryan got home.

Sandy cleared his throat behind his wife and son, and they pulled apart and Kirsten turned to look at Sandy expectantly.

"We need to talk," he said to Kirsten, who nodded. Seth slipped away from Kirsten.

"I'm going to go check on Ryan," he announced. As soon as he was out of the room, Sandy crossed the remaining distance between him and his wife and put his arms around her. Kirsten buried her head in his chest and he just held her for a minute.

"What are we going to do about Dawn?" Kirsten asked. "I mean…do we just kick her out? She's Ryan's mother! I don't…" Kirsten trailed off and Sandy placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I've been thinking about that too," Sandy said leading her over to the couch. "I'm thinking maybe checking her into rehab would be the best option. I'll check out some of the better places and then we'll go from there…"

"And Ryan? Do we tell Ryan?" Sandy shrugged. He didn't know Ryan as well as his wife did. He didn't know what to tell Ryan. Would he be angry with them for interfering? Or would he be angrier to think that his mother just walked out on him once again? Telling Ryan or not telling Ryan, that was a decision that he felt that Kirsten was more qualified to make.

"I don't know honey," Sandy said. "If we tell him, and she doesn't make it through the program, or she falls off the wagon once she's out of rehab, does that make it worse? That she tried once again and failed?"

"Once again?" Kirsten questioned.

"Let's just say it's not her first foray into the world of rehab," Sandy said. "I did a little research yesterday. She's had two court appointed trips to rehab. Both resulting in her drinking almost immediately after coming home. Ryan was sent to foster care both times. Once when he was nine and then again when he was eleven."

"Oh God," Kirsten said. Sandy had told her stories of foster care, and none of it sounded very appealing. She should have figured that Ryan would have been shipped off to a foster home at some point during his childhood. Meeting Dawn had made it glaringly obvious that Ryan's childhood had been exactly what Kirsten had feared that it would be.

"Honey," Sandy's voice was firm and he took Kirsten's hand. "Do we tell Ryan?" Kirsten bit her lip and glanced out the window. Seth and Ryan were sitting in on the patio chairs, and Ryan was staring at the pool house. Kirsten looked back at her husband, and she wished that she didn't have to make this choice.

"I think we have to," Kirsten finally said. "He's not a child, Sandy. He's taken care of her almost his entire life…maybe it would be a relief for him to know that he doesn't have to anymore. That we're going to take care of it. Of her. For him."

"I think that you are right," Sandy said nodding. "Why don't we wait until tomorrow though? We could all use some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll sit down first with Dawn, and then with Ryan, and we'll discuss what's going to happen next."

* * *

Kirsten had been tossing and turning for hours, and she knew that Sandy had finally fallen asleep, and she hated to wake him up. Gently, she removed his arm from around her waist and slipped out from the covers. She walked to the kitchen and began to make herself a cup of tea. A noise and a small crash behind her made her jump a foot and she reached for something to protect herself with and really wished that she had either stayed in bed, or at the very least turned on the main light in the kitchen, instead of just the light over the stove. Finding only a rolling pin, which she wasn't entirely sure why that was out in the first place, and slightly surprised that they even had a rolling pin, she wheeled around only to find an equally surprised Ryan.

"Kirsten? What are you doing?" Ryan asked. "Were you going to take me out with a rolling pin?"

"God, Ryan, you scared the shi…you scared me," Kirsten said giving him a small smile. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied reaching into the refrigerator and pulling out the orange juice.

"Couldn't sleep," she said shrugging as she sipped her tea.

"Me neither," he admitted. He poured himself a glass of orange juice and hopped up onto the stool. She leaned back against the counter and turned to look at the pool house. It was unfair, Kirsten thought, that the reason that neither one of them was sleeping was herself sleeping like a baby.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kirsten asked turning back to face Ryan. He just shrugged.

"There's not much to talk about. She just did what she always does. I don't know why I expected anything different."

"You always think they're going to change," Kirsten said shrugging. "I do it with my father. I always he's going to change, like after thirty-seven years he's just going to be different." She sighed and took another sip of her tea. "You can't help it. Sandy doesn't understand why I let my father get away with the things that he gets away with. Which, don't even get me started on Sandy and his mother…it's hard. She's your mother. She will always be your mother, and you will forgive her, no matter what. And you'll always hope that she's going to change. No matter how many times she fails you..."

"I love her. And I hate her," Ryan said softly. "And I just wish…I just wish that she would have never come here. And then I feel terrible for wishing that…" Kirsten understood. She understood a little too well. And she wished that she could give some words of wisdom to Ryan. Someway to deal with his mother, and maybe even some way to give up on his mother, because the relief of letting Dawn go would be immense. But Kirsten was still figuring out how to let her father's constant disappointment in her not bother her. She was still figuring out how to not let her father get to her, and how to stop worrying about him. She could do nothing but walk over and place a kiss on his temple.

"You aren't terrible," she said softly. "I'm sorry for tonight."

"Why?"

"I asked her to come to Vegas Night," Kirsten said giving his arm a squeeze and placing her empty cup in the sink.

"It's not your fault," Ryan assured her. "My mother is a train wreck, and she was bound to derail soon."

"Sandy and I are going to put her in rehab," Kirsten blurted out, and then wished that she had thought about it a little more before saying it, because the look on Ryan's face broke her heart. It was fleeting, Ryan quickly got a hold of his emotions again and made his face impassive, but it was there for a second, and she saw it. "I mean, if that's okay with you. We talked about it and there are some really good places around here…and Sandy and I will take care of everything, we just thought…well, it would be good for her, and for you, to give her a second chance."

"I can't ask you to do that…" Ryan sighed. "And besides, it's not going to be her second chance, or her third, or her fourth…it's…you don't have to worry about her Kirsten. It's nice enough that you let her stay here for the past couple of days." Kirsten could feel the conversation getting out of her control and she took a deep breath and looked at Ryan.

"Ryan, she's your mother, she's your family…and you…you are a part of my family now. And I would do anything for my family. Dawn is not your responsibility anymore. You don't have to worry about her. Sandy and I will take care of everything."

"Kirsten…"

"Ryan, I'm not asking for your permission, I'm telling you." Kirsten leaned over and brushed the hair off his face and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to go try to get some sleep. And you should too." She started to leave the kitchen when she heard Ryan's voice behind her.

"Kirsten?" She turned around to face him again.

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Kirsten smiled.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Dawn sat in the backseat of the car, her bags in the trunk, and waited to see if her son would come out to say goodbye to her. The door opened and Sandy and Kirsten came out. Kirsten had offered to drive with Sandy when he took Dawn to rehab. He had done the research and found a pretty good facility not too far from Newport. Still, it was a few hours away, and Kirsten didn't mind getting to spend some time with her husband, even if half of it was spent with Dawn hungover in the backseat.

"Did you tell him we were leaving?" Sandy asked gesturing to the house. Kirsten nodded as she opened the door to the car. Just as they were getting settled and as Sandy reached to turn on the car, the front door flew open and Ryan came out. He walked up to the side of the car, and Dawn rolled down her window.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," he said.

"Bye, baby," Dawn said as she started to cry. Ryan hated the crying. He had always hated the crying. He had yet to see Kirsten cry yet, and it was one of her redeeming qualities.

"Ill see you guys when you get home," Ryan said to Kirsten and Sandy. He turned from the car and walked back into the house, and Sandy started the car and drove down the driveway to the rehab center.

After the car was out of sight, and Ryan had settled in with Seth for some Playstation, there was a knock on the door.

"You can get that," Seth said his eyes not moving from the screen.

"Oh, can I?" Ryan asked sarcastically as he moved to the front hall. He opened it to find Marissa standing there. She smiled at him.

"Hi, I was hoping that you would be home," she said. "I just wanted to check on you…make sure that you were okay after…well…what happened…"

"I'm okay," Ryan said cutting her off. They had spent most of Vegas night together, before his mother had gotten drunk and killed the evening.

"Okay," Marissa replied. They stood there awkwardly for a minute before Ryan stepped aside.

"You want to come in?"'

"Oh," Marissa grinned. "Great." She followed him in the house and into the family room where Seth was. "Hi Seth."

"What? Oh, hi Marissa….wait, Marissa?" He looked confused at Marissa Cooper being in his house, and he tilted his head to study her as if she was some foreign object that he had never before come into contact with.

"Marissa came back to see how I was doing," Ryan jumped in. "Do you want to stay?"

"We have the house to ourselves for the day," Seth said. "Ryan has never seen _The Goonies_ and that is a travesty that must be remedied."

"_The Goonies_?" Marissa asked with a smile. "I love that movie. How have you never seen it?" Ryan just shrugged.

"We also have been left some money by the parents, so dinner is on them. What do you say Marissa? Are you in?" Ryan gave Seth a look that looked as if he couldn't decide if he wanted to kill Seth or hug him.

"Um, well I was supposed to meet Summer to tan, but would you mind if she came over too?" Seth nearly choked on the soda that he was drinking.

"Mind? No."

"Great, then I'll go call her," Marissa grinned and left the room and Ryan turned on Seth.

"What was that?"

"Helping a brother out," Seth retorted. "You so have a thing for her. And I figured after all the shit that has been currently hitting the rhetorical fan, that you could use a little breather. Move on to girl problems." Seth stopped considering before adding, "You know, younger girl problems."

"She'll be over," Marissa said as she came back in the room. Her best friend had not been very happy about the change of plans, but Summer had agreed, for Marissa's sake, and was on her way.

"Great," Seth said with a giddy grin on his face. What a great day, he thought. They had the house to themselves, Dawn was out of their hair and on her way to rehab, Ryan was finally getting to act like a kid, and Summer was coming to his house. His house.

It was the greatest day of his life, and it was only eleven in the morning.

* * *

Okily dokily, I have to go finish reading for my Holocaust class. So translate into I have to go cry my eyes out for the next hour or so. Make me feel better, and review! 


	12. Moving on

Okay, so review please, and enjoy. This weekend was one of my roommate's birthdays and so we had a party for her at our friends' house (instead of our apartment, because I'm not an idiot. I don't want my apartment trashed…that's just using common sense people) And then we were all walking home, and I had this huge craving for McDonald's, and so I talked everyone into stopping with me so that I could get some chicken mcnuggets. I tell you this only to highlight a very important lesson that I learned that I would like to pass on: McDonald's and Natural Ice don't mix, so don't try it. Learn from my mistakes….Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.

* * *

Seth was no expert on girls, but he figured that the day wasn'tgoing too badly. Summer was actually talking to him, and had actually remembered to call him the right name. And Ryan and Marissa were doing great so far, and more importantly, Marissa was distracted so Summer had no one to talk to except for Seth. And Seth did not mind in the least being second choice as long as he was a choice at all.

They had just put in the third movie,anothermovie that Seth insisted everyone must see at some point in their lives,when Marissa's phone rang. She reached into her purse to grab it and frowned when she saw Luke's name popping up.

"Who is it?" Summer asked. Marissa shrugged and gave Summer a smile.

"Just my mom." She hit the silence button. A few minutes later her phone rang again. Marissa silenced it again and hoped that it wouldn't ring a third time. She was having a good time with Ryan, a good time that would be ruined if her ass of an ex-boyfriend continued to call her phone. When it rang again, Marissa had to accept that Luke wasn't going to stop until she answered the phone. Not that she had anything to say to him.

"Maybe you should answer it," Ryan suggested softly. Marissa sighed and stood up and walked into the kitchen to talk to Luke.

"So, where are your parents?" Summer asked Seth trying to ignore the suddenly heated side of Marissa's conversation in the kitchen. It was clear that she was not talking to her mother, and Summer was trying to kill the noise of Marissa's yelling. Or at least divert some of the attention away from her.

"Um, they went on a drive," Seth answered shooting a look in Ryan's direction. "Some puke-worthy romantic excursion along the coast. They won't be home until later."

"You cheated on me!" Marissa's voice carried into the kitchen, and all three in the living room cringed. "With one of my best friends! With everything else that was happening, do you know how that made me feel?"

"Sounds like a fun conversation," Seth remarked and was met by two glares. Marissa hung up and came back into the living room.

"You okay Coop?" Summer asked softly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said. "Hey, I'll be right back okay? I'm just going to run over to my mom's house and grab something."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Summer offered. Marissa shook her head.

"No, thanks, I'll be right back," with that Marissa disappeared out the front door.

"I'll be right back too," Ryan said after a moment, going the same way that Marissa had gone.

"They're dropping like flies," Seth said grinning at Summer like an idiot. "Think we smell or something?" She didn't look amused, but instead stared off into the direction that both Ryan and Marissa had disappeared.

"I hope she's okay. The last time she just ran off and didn't tell anyone what she was doing, we found her in an alley in Tijuana. After she had taken a healthy dose of alcohol and my stepmother's sleeping pills. I, God, I thought that she was dead..." Summer looked wide-eyed as Seth as if she suddenly remembered who she was talking to. "I didn't know if you knew about…of course you did. Everyone heard about that fateful trip to TJ."

"I did hear," Seth said. "But from my parents who heard it from her parents. I'm not exactly in the gossiping circles…and it's nice…that you're worried about her. You're a good friend." Summer blushed and looked down at her nails and studied them. She wanted to tell Seth that was the nicest thing any boy had ever said to her. No, the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her, with maybe the exception of her father. But she couldn't open her mouth and find the words, and so they sat there quietly for a little while waiting for Marissa and Ryan to reappear. Seth sat trying desperately to think of something to say to Summer. Something that wouldn't make him seem like a total and complete spaz, and was thrilled when it was Summer who picked up the conversation.

"What's the deal with your friend? Ryan? Why is he staying with your family?" Summer had been dying to find out the story behind the kid that was now staying with the Cohens, only the richest and most powerful family in Newport. Whoever the kid was, he had lucked out. Seth shrugged.

"His family is…temporarily out of service, so he's staying with us," Seth said shrugging.

"But do you…I mean, what does that mean? Is he like a cousin? But I know that he's not related to your mom, because she's like a Nichol, and everyone knows who the Nichols are….or I guess he could be a distant relative. Is he a distant cousin on your mom's side?" Summer looked at Seth expectantly, and Seth didn't know what to say. His parents had asked that he be careful what he told everyone about Ryan, but they had yet to think of a good cover story, or if they had thought of a cover story, they had yet to clue Seth in. And up until now it hadn't been a problem, because very few people talked to Seth, and so he had very few opportunities where he could have let Ryan's past slip out.

"No, he sort of…" Before he could answer, both Ryan and Marissa came back in.

"Hey, Coop, you good now?" Summer asked as her friend took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, great," Marissa replied. Seth glanced at Ryan who was standing away from Marissa, his arms crossed across his chest, and he wondered what had happened with them. "Hey, why don't we do something?"

"Like what?" Summer asked. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't having a bad time just sitting around in the Cohen's house with Seth Cohen and his new friend/housemate/whatever the hell Ryan was.

"I don't know, I just can't sit here anymore," Marissa whined. "Let's just go somewhere. Take a drive?" The other three exchanged looks and finally Ryan shrugged, and Seth nodded, and Summer smiled at her friend.

"Okay, Coop, we'll take a drive," Summer grabbed Marissa's elbow and guided her out to the driveway.

"We can take the Rover," Seth suggested. "My parents took the BMW, and had left the keys in my capable hands." Ryan snorted, and Seth corrected himself. "So not as much left in my hands, as just left the keys where the keys are usually left. And sure, I had told them that Ryan and I wouldn't use the car, but they had never said that we couldn't use the car…"

"We can take my car," Marissa interjected smiling. "I can drive." Summer knew that her friend was acting strange, but just chalked it up to Marissa's crappy phone call with Luke, and so she shrugged and walked towards the silver Jeep. Ryan looked a little wary, Marissa had been acting a little off sincehe had chased after her before and found her coming out of her house.

"You okay?" He had asked, and she had nodded, and then began to cry, and the whole story about Luke and Holly and TJ had spilled out, and despite that he knew the story from the Cohens, he nodded and listened and held onto her until she had calmed down. Still, she was acting strange, and he wasn't too sure letting her drive was the best idea. But she was already in the front seat, grinning at him, and so he too shrugged and got into the car. Something was telling him that it was a bad idea to get into the car with Marissa, but he was ignoring that little voice. Living in Newport had already changed him in the short time he had been there, he would have never ignored that voice in Chino.

"I guess I'm going too," Seth said throwing his hands up in the air and getting into the car, despite him, like Ryan and Summer, knowing that it was a bad idea.

"Where are we going?" Summer piped up from the backseat.

"I just thought that we would take a drive along the coast?" Marissa said turning out of their gated community.

They had only gotten so far when it was clear that Marissa shouldn't be driving. Her driving was erratic, and she kept swerving off the side of the road, and a few times into the other lane, where thankfully there had been no other cars.

"Maybe you should pull over and let someone else drive," Ryan suggested.

"Yes, please Jesus and Moses, pull over," Seth muttered.

"Jesus and Moses?" Summer questioned.

"I like to cover my bases," Seth shrugged.

"No, I'm fine," Marissa insisted. "I'm fine."

"You are not fine," Ryan said. "Please pull over."

"Have you been drinking Coop?" Summer asked softly from the backseat.

"No!" Marissa wheeled around in the driver's seat to glare at her best friend. Ryan reached over and grabbed the wheel and kept them on the road.

"Please pull over," he pleaded with Marissa. She shook her head and put her hands back on the wheel.

"I'm fine."

"Marissa," Seth said from the backseat. "Hey, why don't we let Ryan drive? He kept telling me how he's always wanted to drive a Jeep, why don't we let him do that?" Seth was grasping at straws, not sure what to say to Marissa to make her pull the car over. Simple pleas were not doing the trick.

"I'm fine," Marissa said angrily. She looked over at Ryan, and the car drifted into the other lane, and the last thing all four saw were the headlights of the other car and the sound of horns being blasted.

* * *

"You think the boys are having a nice afternoon with the house to themselves?" Kirsten asked as she and Sandy drove home. They were almost home at this point, after a day of doing nothing but driving. The rehab center was nice, and Kirsten and Sandy had been given a quick tour before they returned to their car and drove away from Dawn, and they hoped, all the problems that she caused.

"Sure, every kid loves having the house to themselves at least for a little while," Sandy said smiling at his wife. Kirsten leaned her head back against the seat and sighed.

"You think Ryan's okay?" Sandy nodded and took her hand.

"I think it was the right move, telling him," he assured her. She nodded, and turned her head to look out the window, still holding onto Sandy's hand.

"I just…I really want Dawn to be serious about it this time. I really want her to actually try to get sober," Kirsten said turning back to Sandy. "I don't want to see him disappointed again. He doesn't deserve that. He doesn't deserve any of it." Sandy gave her hand a squeeze, he took his eyes off the road for a second to look at his wife. Just a second, and when he turned back, there was a car in his lane and he slammed on the horn and the brakes, and the last thing he heard before the crash was Kirsten's scream.

* * *

Okay, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, I have it written, or at least partially written…mainly because I'm procrastinating…but I'll only post it if you review. So review! I mean it. 


	13. After the crash

Sorry this took so long. I went to Florida, and I meant to update before I left, but then real life interfered, and I had to get my study abroad application in, and finish a paper, and take a test, and well…here we are. Hope you enjoy! Please review!

Disclaimer: After a week in Disney, I am broke, and own absolutely nothing…with the exception of a Mickey pen that I bought for like a billion dollars.

* * *

"Summer?" Seth's voice called out shakily. "Are you okay? Ryan? Marissa?"

"I'm…I'm okay," Summer said as if she was trying to decide whether or not she really was okay. "My leg kind of hurts, but I'm okay. Are you okay?"

"My arm hurts, I think it's broken," Seth said. After years of skateboarding, he considered himself an expert on broken bones. And his arm, hanging dementedly at his side, was most definitely broken. "Ryan? Marissa?"

"Hmm," Marissa's eyes fluttered open and she remembered suddenly what had happened. They were in a car accident. She had been driving. She had been drinking and driving. Oh God, this was all her fault.

"Coop?" Summer asked in a tearful voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…my head hurts, and my ribs hurt, but I think I'm okay," Marissa said and then she looked over at Ryan, whose eyes were still closed, his head slumped against the window. "Oh God! Ryan! Oh God…" The Jeep had remained relatively intact, and was right side up. She knew that the front was totaled. But as she peered out the broken windshield she could see that the car that she had hit had not faired so well. It was flipped upside down, and there didn't seem to be any movement from inside. A knock on the window made all three awake jump.

"Hey, kids? I called an ambulance. They're on their way…" A man stood there with a phone in his hand. Marissa could now see people moving over towards the other car. Good, she thought, go help them. She wanted the world to open up and swallow her whole. She had taken that bottle of vodka from her parents' liquor cabinet. A master at drinking fast, she had done shot after shot, until she had heard Ryan's voice. She had slipped the bottle in her purse and met him at the door. And now, she had just caused this accident. Suddenly, she was very sober, and she wished Ryan would wake up. She hoped the people in the other car were okay, that it looked worse than it actually was.

Seth tried his door handle, and it opened and cradling his arm, he climbed out of the car. He went to the other side, and opened Summer's door and helped her out. Her leg was cut, and she had a few bruises on her arm, but she seemed okay. Now Ryan, Ryan did not look okay.

"Don't move him, in case something is wrong with his neck," Seth instructed Marissa, who nodded tearfully. Seth looked over at the other car, it was a black BMW. His father had a car like that; Seth shook the thought and turned his attention back to Ryan. The paramedics had arrived, and were hurrying over to the two cars.

"He's hurt the most," Seth said moving aside so that they could get to Ryan. Seth turned back to the other car, the paramedics were getting out the driver of the car, and suddenly a chill ran down Seth's back. A familiar voice was crying out from the car.

"My wife, you need to get my wife out of the car. She's bleeding. She's hurt more than me, don't worry about me, get my wife out of the car!"

That was his father's voice.

"Dad!" Seth cried out hurrying over to the stretcher where they had placed his father.

"Seth?" Sandy looked up at his son. Sandy had looked better, a bruise was already forming on his head, and he too was cradling his arm. "Oh my God, Seth, are you okay?" Seth nodded.

"It's just my arm," he said. "Is Mom…" He trailed off. She obviously wasn't okay. He glanced into the car, and saw her in much the same position that Ryan was in, only she was upside down, and her neck was at an angle that Seth would have preferred it not been at.

"I don't know," Sandy said. "Is Ryan okay? Was he with you? Who was driving?" The paramedics started moving Sandy towards one of the waiting ambulances.

"Ryan's…I don't know," Seth answered. "Marissa was driving…Summer was in the car too, her leg is hurt, other than that…"

"We need to get her out," he heard from the paramedics working on his mom. "There's a gas leak."

"Oh God," Sandy murmured. "Kirsten…oh God."

"Sir, we need you to calm down…son, why don't you ride with us and have your arm checked out?" Seth didn't want to leave the scene yet, his mother and Ryan weren't safely out of the cars yet. He looked torn, and the paramedic put his arm around Seth and led him into the ambulance. The last thing that Seth saw before the doors shut behind him was Ryan out of the ambulance on a stretcher, and Summer and Marissa both being taken in another ambulance.

* * *

Sandy had a concussion, and his arm was definitely broken, and he was a mess. He had sat patiently, or at least tried to sit patiently, while they set his arm, but they had not told him anything about his wife or Ryan, and his patience, what little he had to begin with, was wearing thin. With every second that passed where he didn't know what was happening with his wife, he was growing a little more anxious and going a little crazier.

Seth was doing the same, but they had already set his arm and he was now sitting in the waiting room with Summer, whose leg was in a cast and definitely broken. The only thing that they would tell him was that both his mother and Ryan had been brought in, and his mother was still in trauma, and Ryan had been taken up for some tests.

Julie Cooper had burst into the waiting room, Jimmy hot on her heels, only a few moments earlier, looking for Marissa.

"Summer!" She had cried out and hurried towards Summer. "What happened? Where's Marissa? Seth, what are you doing here?" Clearly, Julie had not been filled in on many details.

"Marissa's talking with the police," Seth said quietly, even though Julie was looking towards Summer for answers. "She was driving and she swerved into the other lane, and hit my mom and dad's car." Julie's mouth dropped open.

"What? Is your mom okay? Is Marissa okay? Your dad? Who else was in the car?" Jimmy asked.

"My dad's okay," Seth said. "A broken arm. He's getting it set right now…and my mom….we don't know, they haven't told us anything. She looked…it was…bad I think…" Seth shuddered. His mother would be okay. Summer surprised both Seth and herself when she reached over and grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "And Ryan was in the car with Marissa, we don't know if he's okay either."

"Ryan?" Julie repeated. "Who is Ryan? The kid that's staying with you? Your cousin or something?" So they were telling people that Ryan was Seth's cousin. That was fine by Seth, whatever made things easier.

"Yes, that Ryan," Seth said sighing.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cooper?" A police officer appeared in the door and both Julie and Jimmy whipped around. "Your daughter is waiting." Julie nodded and grabbed Jimmy's hand and began to pull him out of the room. Jimmy turned around before he left, and called out to Seth,

"Let me know if you hear anything about your mom." Seth slumped back against the seat.

"She's going to be okay, you know?" Summer said softly. "And Ryan too. They're both going to be okay." She hadn't let go of his hand yet, and she found it reassuring and nice, and didn't want to let go. A minute later, Sandy, complete with a sling and some pretty nice bruises burst into the waiting room.

"Have you heard anything about your mom?" He asked Seth crossing to where he and Summer were sitting in a few short strides. Seth had never seen his father like this. Sandy Cohen was always calm and in control, and this wild-eyed man was not acting like the dad that Seth knew and loved. "Ryan? Have you heard anything about either?" Seth shook his head, and Sandy ran a hand through Seth's unruly hair, and sighed, keeping his fingers intertwined with Seth's curls. Seth would have thrown his dad's hand off if it had been any other circumstance, but for the same reasons as Summer, who was still clinging to his hand, he needed his father's touch. He needed someone to step in and let him break down. Let him cry and scream, and plead for his mother.

"Mr. Cohen?" They turned to see a doctor standing there, a clipboard in hand.

"That's me," Sandy said.

"I'm Dr. Thomas. I've been working on your foster son? Ryan Atwood?" Dr. Thomas extended his hand, and Sandy shook it, feeling like he might be sick at any moment.

"Is he…is he okay?" Sandy asked. The doctor nodded, and Sandy felt relief wash over him.

"He should be just fine," Dr. Thomas replied. "He has a pretty severe concussion, and some broken ribs, but other than that, he should be fine. We're going to keep him here to keep an eye on the concussion, but he's awake and talking, and asking for you and your wife." Wife. Kirsten. Sandy had been so relieved that Ryan was okay, that for a moment he forgot that he still hadn't heard anything about her. The sick feeling returned. He closed his eyes for a second and heard her scream, felt her hand grasp his right before the collision. "If you want, I can take you to his room?" Sandy nodded numbly, and felt Seth's hand on his shoulder.

"Can we come Dad?" Seth asked. Summer was still clinging to his hand.

"Yes," Sandy said. "Dr. Thomas? My wife was brought in here too…I just need…no one has told us anything about her..." Dr. Thomas gave Sandy a sympathetic look.

"I'll check for you," he offered and then began to lead the way to Ryan's room. Sandy numbly followed until they stopped in front of a closed door. Sandy opened the door slowly, and Ryan's eyes fluttered open.

"Sandy," he said hoarsely.

"Hey, kid," Sandy said crossing over to the bed. Ryan took in Sandy's bandaged arm and head, and frowned.

"What happened to you?"

"That car that Marissa collided with? It was my parents'," Seth spoke up bluntly.

"Cohen, we were going to ease him into that information," Summer said hitting him on the arm. Seth shrugged, he saw no need to sugarcoat it, Ryan would find out sooner or later.

"Are you okay? Is Kirsten okay?" Ryan asked trying to sit up.

"I'm okay," Sandy said. "I have to lay off the surfing for awhile, but I'm okay."

"Kirsten?" Ryan asked again. No one said anything, and Ryan felt his stomach drop. "Sandy, what's wrong with Kirsten? Is she okay? She's okay, right?" Kirsten was the whole reason that Ryan was off the streets, she was the whole reason that he was here in Newport, she had taken a chance on him.She had to be okay. Ryan would not forgive himself if something had happened to her because he had let Marissa drive when he knew that she shouldn't be.

"We don't know anything about her yet," Sandy said gently. "But as soon as we know something, we'll tell you." Ryan's eyes started to droop, and Sandy ran a hand through his hair as he had done with Seth. "Get some rest kid."

"Marissa?" Ryan asked sleepily. "She was…is she okay?" Sandy fought the urge to shake his head. Ryan certainly had a hero complex. Marissa was the whole reason they were in here. Marissa was the reason that his wife was hurt, and the reason that Sandy was going crazy thinking of all the things that could be wrong with Kirsten. Marissa had spiraled down, and taken all of them with her. But Ryan was worried about Marissa.

"She's fine, she's with her parents," Summer spoke up. She silently added, and the police, but figured Ryan didn't need to worry about that. What a fine mess her best friend had gotten herself into this time. She suddenly remembered Kirsten. If she died, Coop could get vehicular manslaughter, or worse. Summer watched enough Law and Order in her day. Coop was in some major shit already, and if, God forbid, Kirsten would have gotten killed, Coop was in a world of trouble that not even Julie Cooper would be able to talk her out of.

Ryan nodded, and drifted back off to sleep. Sandy was torn between staying here with Ryan, and going to find a doctor to find out something at least about his wife. As if his son was a mind reader, Seth said,

"I'll stay here with Ryan, Dad, if you want to go find Mom." Sandy couldn't help but crossing to Seth, taking his head in his hands and placing a kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you, Seth," he said. Sandy left and Seth sat down in a chair next to Ryan's bed.

"You don't have to stay here," he said to Summer.

"Are you kidding?" She asked incredulously. She took a seat and then gave him a small smile. "I'd like to stay here, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," Seth said shaking his head and giving her a small smile in return. "I don't mind at all."

* * *

Okay, so review and let me know what you thought. I'm very sad about the lack of OC tonight. This whole waiting a month thing isn't going to work for me…someone needs to talk to Josh about it. 


	14. Waiting

Hello! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. So I have four, count them four, midterms next week, so I'm going to try to get another chapter up as soon as possible (probably when I'm procrastinating from studying), but I can't make any promises. Cause I may just die after the week is over. Oh, and I can't wait until Halloween, I'm going as a 50's housewife, because it's a long running joke between me and one of my friends that I'd make a good 50's housewife because apparently I repress my anger. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Uh, not mine.

* * *

Sandy was at his wit's end. He stood pacing in front of the nurses' station. He had demanded to be told where his wife was and what was happening to her. They had finally agreed to get a doctor to tell him, and here he was, waiting. Pacing. 

"Mr. Cohen?" He whirled around and faced a doctor whose blue scrubs were covered in blood. _Kirsten's_. The thought hit him and for a second he didn't remember how to breathe. "I'm Dr. Barnes. I've been working on your wife?"

"Is she okay?"

"She's in critical condition," Dr. Barnes said. "We had to take her to surgery to remove her spleen and control the internal bleeding. I'm not going to lie, Mr. Cohen, we thought we were going to lose her." Lose her, the words echoed in Sandy's head, bouncing around. He repeated them to himself until they lost their meaning. Lose her. Lose her. "We managed to get her stabilized, but she was without oxygen for a few minutes, and we can't be sure if there is brain damage until she wakes up. She has a few broken ribs, a broken leg, and a pretty severe concussion that also has us concerned."

"Oh God," Sandy covered his mouth with his hand.

"I can take you to the ICU to see her if you would like?" Dr. Barnes asked, and Sandy nodded. When they stopped outside of the room, the doctor turned to Sandy. "Are you ready?" Ready? No. Sandy was not ready for this.

"Is she…when will she wake up?" Sandy asked, his hand was poised above the doorknob of Kirsten's room. He could see through the slits in the blinds, her lying in the bed, and he had never seen her look so pale and so fragile.

"We don't know right now, Mr. Cohen," Dr. Barnes said gently. "Why don't you go sit with her and try to talk to her?" Sandy nodded, he felt like that was all that he had been doing all day. Nodding and following. And waiting.

Waiting for news on Ryan. Waiting for news on Kirsten. Waiting to find out if his family was going to be okay.

As Sandy took Kirsten's hand, he felt his confusion and exhaustion and worry turn into anger. Anger at Marissa. What the hell was she thinking? Drinking and driving. And anger at his kids. They should have known better than to let Marissa drive after she had been drinking. He had taught Seth better than that. He and Kirsten had always told Seth that if he ever went to a party and had something to drink, which was not okay but he and his wife weren't stupid and knew that Seth was a teenager and so knew that there was going to be encounters with alcohol, but if he had something to drink he could call them. He could call and they would come get him no questions asked. They had never had this problem before, Seth never went to parties unless it was with his parents. Seth never drank. Seth was a good kid.

And Ryan was a good kid too, as far as Sandy could see from the brief time that Ryan had been living with them. And he certainly seemed as if he knew better than to drink and drive, or let someone else drink and drive. Sandy didn't know what had gone on, but he was certainly going to find out.

Ryan.

Sandy hadn't known how attached he was until he heard Seth say that Ryan was in the car and was hurt and his stomach leapt into his throat and he momentarily forgot that his wife was still trapped in the car at an inhumane angle, because his kid, and that was what Ryan had become, his kid was hurt. And he worried about both Ryan and Kirsten equally.

But Ryan was okay, and Kirsten was far from it. And all Sandy wanted to do was scream and cry and throw things, and strangle Marissa for being so selfish and so stupid and causing everyone so much pain. But instead he took his wife's hand, and brought it to his mouth to give it a kiss and remembered that he should call Caleb, and tell Seth what was happening. But Sandy didn't. Not yet. He needed to sit with Kirsten for just a little while longer.

* * *

Seth and Summer had sat in silence as his father had gone off to find out about his mother. Ryan was still sleeping, and Seth was getting antsy. 

"Where's my Dad?" He asked for what was probably the millionth time.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Summer assured him. Seth began to tap his foot.

"This is crazy," he finally spoke up again.

"What's crazy?" Summer looked at him confused, her eyebrows sloping down and Seth mentally added that to the ever growing list of things about Summer he loved.

"This whole thing! Marissa being drunk, us getting in a car accident, only to have it be my parents' car, and Ryan and my mom getting hurt. It's crazy. Stuff like this doesn't happen in real life. Only on _The Valley._"

"I love _The Valley_!" Summer said grinning, Seth gave her an incredulous look and Summer nodded. "But right, crazy."

"What the hell was Marissa thinking? What the hell were we thinking getting in the car with her?" Seth shook his head and started tapping his other foot as well. Summer placed a calming hand on his knee.

"We didn't know she was drunk," Summer reminded.

"But we should have! If I would have stopped her, if I would have said something, or been more willing to take my parents' car, then my mom would be okay. Ryan would be okay. We'd all be okay!"

"Seth, this isn't your fault, okay? It's not anyone's fault but Marissa's," Summer said. "And your mom is hurt, and Ryan is hurt, and it's not so much about you or your guilt? It's about them."

"You're right, I'm being…self-absorbed." They settled again into a comfortable silence until Ryan started to toss a little in his sleep.

"Um, should he be doing that?" Summer asked.

"No!" Ryan screamed.

"There's your answer," Seth quipped as he jumped to his feet. "I'll go get someone."

"No! No!" Ryan yelled. His arms started to flail, and Summer was afraid that he was going to pull out his IV, and she wanted Seth to come back more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.

"Ryan?" She said gently moving closer to the bed. "Ryan, Seth went to go get someone, okay?" She saw that his forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and the door opened again and Seth came in followed by a nurse with a shot that she stuck in Ryan's IV. Almost immediately he quieted down.

"Gotta get me some of that," Seth whispered to Summer.

"There you go honey," the nurse said patting Ryan's arm. She turned and smiled at Seth and Summer. "You come get me if you need anything." She walked back out and Seth felt completely and totally exhausted all of a sudden. The door opened again and this time it was Sandy, who had watched the nurse leave and frowned slightly.

"Is everything okay in here?"

"Everything's gravy Dad," Seth replied. "Ryan had a nightmare. Or, well I assume it was a nightmare, he started to yell and throw his arms around…" Seth paused and looked at his father. "Is Mom okay? What did they tell you?" Sandy sighed and ran his good hand through his hair and over his face. Seth knew his father well enough to know that wasn't a good sign, and immediately Seth felt sick.

"She's…well, she's in a coma," Sandy said. "They said that that there was extensive internal bleeding and while she was in surgery her brain was denied oxygen, and they aren't sure if there's going to be brain damage because of it." Seth reached for Summer's hand, and she looked down and noticed that he had done it without thinking. He had reached for her hand, and she had let him take it.

"Can I…can I go see her?" Seth asked softly.

"Sure," Sandy said giving his son a gentle smile. "You can sit with her while I go call your grandfather."

"Thanks for sitting with me, you don't have to stay if you don't want to," Seth said turning to Summer. She nodded, and was surprised at herself when she realized that she didn't want to go. Not home to an empty house, which is what would happen.

"Actually, the police want to talk to you both," Sandy said. "So Summer, if you don't mind sticking around?" Summer almost wanted to hug Sandy. She nodded again.

"No, I'll stay. Do you want me to sit with Ryan?"

"That'd be great, Summer, thanks," Sandy said giving her a smile. He led his son out of the room and Summer settled into the chair next to the bed and picked up the remote.

Seth followed his father out into the hall and they walked up to the ICU together. Neither one talked as they arrived outside Kirsten's door.

"She's only allowed one visitor at a time," Sandy said holding the door open for Seth.

"I'll keep it short then," Seth said, realizing that his father would probably want to be with his mother. Sandy just took Seth by the shoulders, looked at him for a minute and then pulled him in for a one armed hug. Then he let go just as suddenly and Seth was left to walk into his mother's room alone.

* * *

As Sandy went to call Caleb, he heard his name being called and he saw Jimmy Cooper hurrying towards him. 

"Sandy!" Sandy stopped but sighed, the last thing that he wanted right now was to talk to any of the Coopers, for fear that he might do something that he could regret later on. But he stopped, and turned around and let Jimmy catch up.

"Hi Jimmy," Sandy said tiredly.

"How's Kirsten?" Jimmy asked immediately. "Have you heard anything about her?"

"She's….it's not good," Sandy said, and admitting those words made him tremble a little bit. "Uh, she's still unconscious, and they're not sure when," _if_, the pessimistic part of his brain spoke up, "she's going to wake up." He shoved the pessimistic voice to the back of his mind. He couldn't think about what would happen if she didn't wake up. He couldn't think about how he would have to deal with their boys on his own if she didn't wake up.

"And Ryan? Um, your nephew I guess? How's he?" Jimmy asked. But he could care less about the answer, and even found that he wasn't really listening to what Sandy was saying. Kirsten was seriously hurt. And as much as Jimmy tried to deny it, or refused to admit to Julie, he was still in love with his first love. He sometimes wondered if she ever thought about what would have happened if they would have married like they were supposed to. That was the plan. He thought about it all the time. How many kids they would have, what they would look like. They wouldn't drink and drive, that was for damned sure. Which brought him to the true reason that he was there.

"Good," Jimmy replied nodding. "I'm glad he's okay." He paused and took a deep breath. "We need your help. Uh, legal help. With Marissa. I know that you probably can't represent her, but uh, if you could let us know who would be good, or just give us any advice." Sandy at first didn't know whether to punch Jimmy or to laugh, and he went with his second thought. He started laughing, and Jimmy watched him bemused.

"You want me to help you? Your daughter? Who got drunk, got into a car with my kids, and hit my car?" Sandy stopped laughing at the ridiculous notion that Jimmy was suggesting and instead began to again feel the overwhelming want to punch Jimmy. Strangle Marissa. Make the Coopers hurt. "My wife is in a fucking coma Jimmy, and you want me to help Marissa? Marissa who put her there? Marissa who did this? Did you think that I would say yes?" Jimmy put his hands up and started to back away from Sandy. He had never seen this wild-eyed side of Sandy before. This side of Sandy was reserved for his family, his wife and now his two sons, for when they were in danger, or trouble. For when he had to protect them.

"Sandy, I'm…" Jimmy started.

"No! She could be dying Jimmy! She could have brain damage, and she's hurt and there's nothing I can do about it, and you want me to help Marissa? You want me to help her after what she did?"

"I'm sorry Sandy," Jimmy said softly. "I didn't mean to…I'm going to go. Have someone let me know when Kirsten wakes up." He made a hasty retreat, and Sandy sighed, went into the bathroom to splash some water on his face and tried to calm down. He couldn't believe Jimmy Cooper would come there to ask him if he could help Marissa. No, he couldn't help Marissa. He didn't want to. Usually Sandy was a fairly compassionate guy, an understanding guy, but he had no compassion for the girl who did this to his wife.

Once he had calmed down he left the bathroom to make a phone call that he certainly did not want to make. He dialed Caleb's number and sighed as he leaned back against the wall. He was going to check on Ryan too before he went back up to kick Seth out. Sandy's head hurt, from both the concussion and the yelling, and all the worrying that he had done. He was sick of worrying.

"Sanford? I've been trying to call Kirsten, and her phone isn't working. Do you know where she is?" Caleb demanded.

"Are you sitting down?" Sandy warned.

"What? Sanford. What the hell is going on?" Sandy could hear the tinge of panic in Caleb's voice.

"We were in a car accident, a drunk driver…Marissa Cooper actually, she swerved into our lane and hit our car," Sandy said wishing that he had two good hands so that he could rub his temples to try to diminish the headache that was growing by the second.

"Is she okay?" Caleb asked after a pause. "Was Seth in the car with you?"

"Seth and Ryan were in the car with Marissa," Sandy said. "They're both okay. Ryan's been better, but they're both going to be fine."

"Kirsten? You haven't said anything about her. Is my daughter okay Sandy?"

"She's not…she's not…she's unconscious still. She has some broken ribs, and a broken leg, and she's in critical condition."

"I'm coming right now," Caleb said and then Sandy heard the dial tone. Great, he thought, because dealing with Caleb was exactly what he needed. He hung up the phone and headed towards Ryan's room. Summer was watching television when he walked in, Ryan was still thankfully asleep, her leg, complete with a cast that Seth had already signed with some marker that he had asked the nurse for, was propped up on the bed and she gave Sandy a smile when he walked in.

"Hey Mr. C," she said.

"Hi Summer, how's he doing?" Sandy asked motioning towards Ryan.

"Okay. How's Mrs. Cohen?"

"She's the same, Seth's up there now, I'm going to send him back down," Sandy told her. She nodded. "Did you get a hold of your dad?"

"He's out of town," Summer said. "I couldn't get a hold of my stepmother…she's probably home, just not answering the phone."

"You're staying with us then," Sandy said.

"You don't have…"

"You're staying with us," Sandy his voice firm, but he was smiling at her.

"Okay, thanks Mr. C," Summer said. She was relieved that she didn't have to go home. She didn't want to go to that big, empty house and sit with her stepmother and wait for her father to return home.

"I'll send Seth down," Sandy said, and with that he left the room to go sit with his wife and wait some more.

* * *

Okay, so please review. I'm going to go start studying. 


	15. 8 percent

Here's the next chapter. Sorry this one took a little longer, I was having some troubles with it. I hope that you enjoy it, and please review and let me know what you think. Oh! But help me out too. I bought these shoes, and I love them, I mean LOVE them, but they didn't have my size so I had to get a size bigger and in the store it seemed as if it would work, but I got them home, and no, they're definitely too big. But I hate to part with them, becuase I love them. So do you think I should suck it up and keep them and just deal with the fact that I feel like I'm little and wearing my mother's shoes, or should I try to take them back? Anyway, let me know. And review! Thanks.

Disclaimer: After my little shopping excursion today I own two pairs of jeans, a new pair of shoes, a bunch of groceries, and a new book, but no OC characters, sadly.

* * *

"How's she doing?" Sandy asked as he walked into Kirsten's room, startling Seth, who seemed to jump a mile when his father placed a hand on his shoulder. Seth shrugged and looked back down at his mother. Sandy leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Hey, Summer's going to stay with us, her father's away on business. When you get a chance, maybe you can run home, get the Range Rover, and take her to get some of her stuff?"

"Sure," Seth answered. "But I kind of wanted…"

"To be here?" Sandy asked. Seth nodded and Sandy smiled at him. "Whenever you get a chance, Seth. It doesn't have to be right now." Seth nodded again and leaned in and gave his father a hug before slipping out of the room leaving Sandy alone with his wife. He pulled up the chair and pushed the hair off of her forehead.

"Oh gorgeous, I really need you to open those eyes for me," Sandy said sighing and closing his eyes. "Your father is going to be here soon, and you know that I do not like to be alone with him. We need a barrier, and you, my darling wife, are like the Berlin wall. Solid, strong, a nice little demilitarized buffer. But I guess that's not the best example, because the Berlin wall fell, didn't it?" Sandy sighed again, opening his eyes and leaning forward, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Jesus Kirsten, I can't do this without you." He heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Caleb standing there. For the first time, it seemed that his father-in-law looked a little unsettled. Caleb was always in control of situations. It was almost irritating to Sandy that Caleb never seemed to falter; even when he made a mistake, Caleb always had this way of making it seem like he had meant to make the mistake. Sandy could only remember seeing Caleb like this once before, and that was the morning of Kirsten's mother's funeral. Caleb had stood in the middle of the kitchen looking lost. And here he stood, looking down at his daughter with the same expression that Sandy had seen on that morning.

"Sandy," he said nodding at his son-in-law, but never taking his eyes off of the still form of his daughter. Sandy stood up, reluctantly letting go of Kirsten's hand so that Caleb could take the coveted seat next to her. Caleb crossed over to her and picked up her hand. "Kiki…"

"I'll leave you alone, I'm going to go check on Ryan," Sandy said.

"Is that boy all right?" Caleb asked looking at Sandy for the first time. Sandy ignored the fact that Caleb didn't call Ryan by his name, but instead focused on the fact that Caleb had showed an interest at all.

"Yes, well…he will be," Sandy said. "I'll be back. Come find me if anything changes." Caleb nodded, and turned back to his daughter as Sandy slipped out of the room and down the stairs to Ryan's room. Ryan was awake, and was quietly talking to Seth and Summer when Sandy walked in.

"Hey kid, you're up," Sandy grinned.

"Is Kirsten doing okay?" Ryan asked immediately.

"She's doing…" Sandy wondered if he should lie to Ryan or not. Ryan was bound to find out the truth, and he would just be angry with Sandy for not letting him know what was really going on with Kirsten. As much as Sandy wanted to shield Ryan until he was better, and could better handle the situation, he knew that wasn't fair to Ryan. "She's doing the same. They're not sure when she's going to wake up. Broken leg, broken ribs, and apparently there was some pretty severe internal bleeding." Sandy suddenly remembered the doctor's words. _We thought we were going to lose her._ He shuddered and pushed the thought, the words, to the back of his head.

"I'm so sorry Sandy," Ryan said closing his eyes to ward off the tears that suddenly had sprung to his eyes.

"For what kid?" Sandy asked. "This is so not your fault."

"I knew, I knew that I shouldn't let her drive! I knew that she was acting strange, but I let her go anyway. I let her drive even though I knew better," Ryan cried out. "And now because of that, because of me, Kirsten is hurt." Before Sandy could reply, open his mouth to tell Ryan that it wasn't his fault, that yes, he shouldn't have let her drive, but he didn't know that she was drunk, and it was Marissa's fault. And Ryan had to let Marissa take the blame.

Seth beat him to the punch.

"Dude, listen to me," Seth said. "This isn't our fault okay? We can sithere and go through a thousand scenarios, each one ending with us telling Marissa to hand over the keys, and each ending with my mom totally okay, ordering Thai and yelling at us for saying the word ass. But it doesn't do anything, Ryan. It just makes us feel worse. This was totally not your fault. Or it if is, it's my fault then too. And Summer's. But really, it's Marissa's. Maybe the three of us hold a little bit of the blame, like five percent each, but it's Marissa's fault. Marissa drank, and then got into the car, and she hit my parents' car. She put you and my mom in the hospital. She did this, Ryan. She did it." The room was quiet for a moment, and no one knew quite what to say, before Summer finally spoke up.

"Cohen? It's really like eight percent our fault," she corrected. Seth turned to look at her, a smile threatening to break out on his face, and then nodded seriously.

"Eight percent."

"Can you deal with taking only eight percent of the blame?" Sandy asked Ryan, and his voice was playful, but his eyes were serious. Ryan studied his hands, and then looked back up at Sandy.

"Do you think she's going to hate me?" Sandy paused for a moment, not knowing if he was talking about Marissa or Kirsten, and then decided that it must be Kirsten, and fought the urge to cry out in frustration. If Ryan had been with them longer, then he would understand how much he meant to Sandy and Kirsten, but as it stood, Ryan hadn't been with them very long at all. In fact, he had been with them really for only a little over a week. That was not nearly enough time to become secure in a situation, in a new family.

"No," Sandy said softly. "No, of course not, of course she's not going to hate you."

"But if I wasn't…if I wasn't here, then she wouldn't…" Ryan struggled with what he was trying to say. Everything traced back to him, if he hadn't been there, Kirsten and Sandy wouldn't have been driving back from dropping his mother off at the rehab, and they wouldn't have been in the car with Marissa.

"Listen to me Ryan," Sandy said firmly. His tone left no room for argument. "Kirsten and I are not sorry that we brought you into this family, and that's what you are. You are family. You are my son. You are Kirsten's son, and when she wakes up, and that's when, and not if, when she wakes up, she will not even consider blaming you, because she will be too relieved that you and Seth are both okay. No one blames you. This is Marissa Cooper's fault. She did this. Do you understand me?" Ryan didn't answer, and Sandy put his finger under Ryan's chin forcing him to look up at him. "Ryan, do you understand me?"

"Yeah," Ryan said. Sandy kept eye contact with him for another couple of seconds before nodding, and removing his hand.

"I'm going to go back upstairs to sit with your mother," he said to Seth. "You'll let me know when they're going to release you Ryan. And then the three of you can go home, and I'll call you if anything happens."

"But Dad…" Seth started at the same time that Ryan said,

"I want to stay here." Sandy shook his head.

"No, there's no point in you just sitting in the waiting room. Go home, get some sleep. Get something to eat. I'll call as soon as something happens."

"Dad," Seth said softly. "I don't want to leave you here alone in case…""In case what?" Sandy asked turning to look at Seth. Seth shoved his hands in his pockets and scuffed his foot at the floor. "She's going to be okay Seth." Seth just simply nodded, and turned away from his dad. Sandy looked at his sons one more time, before closing the door and hurrying back upstairs to his wife. Not one of the three kids said anything until Ryan finally spoke up.

"What's going to…happen to Marissa? Do you know?" He looked over at Seth. Seth shrugged.

"She'll lose her license, for sure," Summer spoke up. "She's under 18. And if your mom…well…I mean…"

"If my mom dies," Seth said bluntly. Summer nodded slowly.

"If that happens. It could be vehicular manslaughter. She's in trouble." That was the understatement of the year, Ryan thought. Marissa. Why hadn't he stopped Marissa? He didn't care what Sandy said, that was fine if Kirsten was okay, but if Kirsten died, then he would be to blame. More than Summer and Seth's decided 8 percent.

"God," Seth said plopping himself down into one of the chairs by Ryan's bed. "Marissa's really had a hell of a year."

* * *

Sandy found Caleb exactly where he had left him, sitting next to Kirsten's bed, her hand in his. The sound of the door against the floor caused Caleb to turn his head to see who was coming in.

"Anything change?" Sandy asked as he sat in the other seat across from Caleb. Caleb had gotten the hospital to bend their strict one visitor policy. All he had to do was to throw around the Nichol name and everyone bent to his will. Sandy was glad for once; he wanted Kirsten to have the best care possible. He wanted her to have the best of everything.

"No," Caleb said softly as he looked down at his daughter. In a display of affection that Sandy had never really seen from Caleb, Caleb brushed a piece of hair off of Kirsten's forehead. "The same." He stood up, gently placing Kirsten's hand back down on the bed. "I'm going to go get some coffee and make some calls." Sandy nodded and watched as Caleb left the room.

Sandy absentmindedly drew circles on the palm of Kirsten's hand with his finger. While he had been telling the truth, he did not for a single second regret their decision to bring Ryan into their home, into their family, he would admit that since Ryan's arrival they hadn't had a dull moment. Sandy glanced down at Kirsten's leg, propped up and in a cast, and let out an audible sigh. No, certainly not a dull moment.

Sandy felt exhausted suddenly, the events of the day catching up with him. He closed his eyes, his good hand wrapped tightly around his wife's and fell asleep finally.

* * *

Okay, so review and let me know what you thought! Thanks! 


	16. Awake

Happy Halloween! This is your Halloween present from me, so enjoy. Please read and review! Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

* * *

The phone rang and Seth sleepily reached over to grab it. He glanced at the clock, and groaned when it was angrily blinking 4:04. Ryan had been released earlier that evening, and Sandy had left Caleb with Kirsten as he accompanied the three kids home. He got Ryan and Summer settled in the guest rooms next to Seth's, and then had hurried back to the hospital to continue his vigil next to his wife.

It suddenly occurred to Seth that the only person calling at four in the morning would be his father with some news on his mother, and a lump instantly formed in his throat.

"Hello?" He said softly.

"Seth?" It was his father. And he was crying. Seth's heart stopped. Oh God. Oh God. Seth shook his head. No. She had to be all right. She was okay.

"Dad?" Seth said, trying very hard so that his voice didn't shake. "What happened? Is Mom okay?"

"She's okay, Seth," Sandy said, he ran a hand over his tear stained face. "She's fine. She's awake and talking, and fine." Seth's face broke into a grin and he threw his legs over the side of the bed and ran next door to Ryan's room, not caring if he woke him up. He burst into the room and Ryan looked at him groggily.

"My mom's awake. She's awake and she's okay," Seth reported happily.

"Thank God," Ryan breathed. Summer limped into the hallway, a sleeping mask perched just above her eyes, her hair a mess and glared angrily at him.

"What is with the noise Cohen?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"My mom's awake," Seth said. He placed the phone back up to his ear. "Can we come down Dad?"

"Well, she's asleep again, she only woke up briefly," Sandy said. "But you can come down if you want." Seth nodded. He didn't need to ask Ryan if he wanted to come, because Ryan was already trying to pull on a shirt, wincing because of his broken ribs. Seth hurried back into his bedroom, telling his father that they would be down as soon as they were dressed. He threw the phone on the bed and began to try to get dressed with one arm, which wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. All the other occasions where he had broken something, his mother had always been there to help him with whatever he needed. Getting dressed, eating, or just being there in general. He could remember being eight, and he had fallen off his skateboard and broken the fall with his wrist. His mother had sat in bed with him, stroking his hair and reading him a book until he had fallen asleep. When he woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see his mom next to him fast asleep in what looked to be a very uncomfortable position, and his father in a chair by his bed. His dad always said that he couldn't sleep well without Kirsten next to him. Seth was just happy that they didn't have to think about a scenario where Kirsten wasn't there. He wasn't sure how his father would have dealt with losing her. His fear was that his dad wouldn't have dealt with it at all, instead shutting down completely. Seth wasn't stupid, he knew if something happened to his mother, it would only be a matter of time before his father self-destructed. He needed her. They all needed her.

And Seth couldn't wait to get down to the hospital and see her awake and smiling.

"Do you need help?" Summer's voice surprised him. He turned to see her dressed already in a skirt, jeans being difficult because of the cast on her leg.

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Seth said. "My mom…" He motioned to the cast and she nodded and crossed over and helped him get his shirt on and button it up. Ryan appeared a second later in Seth's doorway, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"You guys ready?" He said anxiously. He wouldn't believe that Kirsten was truly okay until he got down there and saw it for himself. They left the house in a hurry, but despite their hurry, Seth drove more carefully than he had ever before. The last thing they needed was for them to get in another accident.

It felt like forever before they saw the hospital and Seth pulled in and parked the car. Summer struggled with her crutches, and Seth, in a hurry, finally leaned over and let her jump onto his back piggy-back style as Ryan carried her crutches. Seth could see the humor in the situation, and he knew logically that his mother was probably still resting, but he wanted to get in there and see her.

Wanted this whole nightmare to almost be over.

* * *

Sandy held Kirsten's hand and smiled to himself. He had been sitting there, holding her hand when she had woken up. He had been so excited that he had knocked over the chair in his dash to get a doctor. A nurse had given her something to help ease the pain, and Kirsten, after a short examination, had fallen back asleep. Sandy had barely been able to talk to her, but that was fine. The doctor had warned him that she would be in severe pain, and that it would probably be better to let her sleep.

The door flew open and Seth came in slightly breathless, followed by a hobbling Summer, and Ryan holding onto his side.

"They weren't going to let us in," Seth exclaimed. Sandy placed a finger to his mouth and motioned to Kirsten, who was sleeping.

"How did you get in then?" Sandy asked lowering his voice.

"Well, I used my wily ways," Seth said. Ryan snorted. "Fine, Summer was a candy striper here, and she convinced them to let us back."

"And now that my job is done, I'll leave you guys alone," Summer said smiling at Sandy. "I'm glad she's okay Mr. C."

"Thank you Summer," Sandy said as Summer slipped out the door and headed towards the waiting room to sit.

"How long was she awake for?" Seth asked just as Ryan asked,

"Is she okay? What did the doctors say?" Sandy motioned for them to sit down. He knew that once again the rules were being bent because she was Kirsten Cohen, and Caleb had demanded that more than one person be allowed in to sit with her at a time.

Caleb. Sandy had forgotten to call Caleb. Caleb had gone to get some rest and to try to get a hold of Kirsten's sister Hailey in Club Med, or Madrid, or Amsterdam, or wherever Hailey was at these days.

"She's okay, they asked her a few questions, and she answered them, but she is in a lot of pain, or will be when the medication wears off," Sandy said. "She wasn't awake for very long."

"Can we sit here? Until she wakes up again?" Ryan asked nervously. He didn't know if he should ask to stay. Maybe Sandy would want to be alone with her? Or maybe he would want just him and Seth in the room? Should Ryan go wait with Summer out in the waiting room until Sandy came and got him? "Or I can go…"

"Ryan," Sandy said standing up and placing a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Of course you can stay here. I have to go call Caleb, so actually you'd be doing me a favor. Stay. She's going to be excited to see you both when she wakes up again."

"Are you sure that you don't…" Ryan trailed off.

"Sure about what?" Sandy questioned.

"That you want me to stay? I mean, don't you just want family?" The last part was said quietly. Ryan knew that they had taken him into their house. He knew that on several occasions Kirsten had assured him that he was a part of their family now, but what he didn't know was when push came to shove, was he really a part of their family? Sitting by Kirsten's hospital bed, waiting for her to wake up so that they could see her and make sure that she was okay, that was definitely a family thing. Did they really want him there to interrupt that? This boy who they had only known for a little more than a week. This boy who had just moved into their house, who was practically a stranger.

"God, Ryan," Seth sighed dramatically. "It's time to accept that you are a Cohen. By everything but blood…and I guess name. So stop this pity party table of one thing that you have going on and sit your ass down….I know, Dad, don't say ass. I got it." Sandy grinned and couldn't help but ruffle Seth's hair, which was sticking up at all angles from just having been woken up. "Dad. The hair. We've talked about this before. So do you think if I kept tapping on her face she'd wake up?"

"Seth Ezekiel, do not wake her up. I'll be right back," Sandy said slipping out of the room and into the hall where he could call Caleb. He figured he would check on Summer too while he was at it, and found her stretched out on one of the couches in the waiting room with her leg propped up. She was fast asleep, and he couldn't help but envy her.

He found a place where he could use his phone and pulled out Caleb's number.

"What's the matter? What's wrong?" Caleb asked frantically, he had picked up after only one ring. "Is she okay?"

"She's okay," Sandy said grinning. "She was awake. She's back to sleep now, they have her pretty drugged up, but she's okay."

"Oh thank God," Caleb breathed. "I'll be down when I can."

"Take your time," Sandy said. "I think it will be awhile before she's awake again." Sandy was wrong, as soon as he stepped back into her room, she was awake, flanked on both sides by the boys.

"Did you wake her up?" Sandy pointed his finger at Seth who threw his hands up in the air.

"I'm innocent," he claimed. Ryan once again snorted.

"Yeah, so it wasn't you that…." Seth reached over and covered Ryan's mouth with his hand.

"I know not what he speaks of Dad."

"I told you not to wake her up!" Sandy admonished.

"Hey," Kirsten interrupted. "It's okay." Sandy shook his head, and Seth grinned.

"Thanks Mom."

"What happened to your arm?" Kirsten exclaimed looking at Seth as Sandy crossed over and raised the bed and helped her sit up.

"Well the car that crashed into yours? It was kind of Marissa Coopers, and uh, we were kind of in it," Seth replied. Kirsten gasped.

"Are you okay?" She asked both.

"We're made of steel Mom," Seth said. "We're fine. I have a broken arm, Ryan has some broken ribs. Summer broke her leg, and Marissa, the cause of all of this, walked away unharmed. Ironic yes?"

"What do you mean the cause of all of this?" Kirsten asked confused. Seth had woken her up, and she was glad to have seen him and Ryan both, but she was still hazy from the medicine, and in pain. In so very much pain.

"Marissa was drinking and driving," Sandy responded quietly.

"What?" She gasped again and then looked at her boys. "You weren't drinking were you?"

"No," Ryan answered. "We weren't drinking."

"Who let her drive?" Kirsten demanded. Here it comes, Ryan thought. She's going to hate me. I didn't stop Marissa from driving. I let her drive. Kirsten's going to want me out of the house as soon as possible.

"They didn't know she had been drinking," Sandy said putting a calming hand on Kirsten's shoulders. This was why he hadn't wanted to tell her right away, he didn't want her to get all worked up.

"We're so sorry," Seth said. "We know, we should have stopped her from driving, but we didn't…I mean she went into her house and then…"

"If you want me to leave," Ryan started.

"Ryan, we talked about this," Sandy interrupted, only to Kirsten burst in.

"What do you mean leave?" She asked. "I know that I've on a few drugs right now, but I don't understand." She looked to her husband and then back at Ryan. "Why would you leave?"

"I should have stopped her," Ryan mumbled.

"Ryan, look at me," when he didn't look up right away, Kirsten sighed heavily and then repeated it again in a tone that left no room for argument. "Look at me. What Marissa did….was wrong. But you didn't make her drink, you didn't make her drive, you didn't even know that she was drunk. I don't….it's not…I don't blame you. And I don't want you to leave. God, that's the last thing that I want." Kirsten felt exhausted, and frustrated with Ryan. When had she ever given him the impression that her decision to have him stay with them was one that could be reneged? A promise that was only good until he did something wrong? He hadn't even done anything wrong in this case for God's sakes, and he was asking her if she wanted him to leave? Kirsten knew that it was going to be a long road with Ryan. A long time before he trusted that they wanted him there. That they wanted him to be a part of their family. His being there was not contingent on his being perfect, or making any mistakes. They wanted him there. No matter what. But she hadn't understood the extent of his insecurities.

"Why don't we let you rest?" Sandy suggested. Ryan was glad that he was spared having to say anything to Kirsten in response, though he figured that this conversation was far from over. He had a feeling that the Cohens liked to talk.

"Yeah, we're going to collect Summer, maybe get some coffee," Seth said hopping up out of the chair. "Dad? You want?"

"No, but thank you Seth," Sandy replied smiling at Seth nodded and left the room, Ryan following quickly behind lest he be sucked into a conversation with Sandy and Kirsten. Once the door was shut behind them, Sandy knew that he had very little time with his wife before she either fell asleep or her father came in.

"You doing okay?" He asked pushing hair from off of her forehead and giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "Do you need me to get anything?"

"He really thinks that we would just kick him out? Just like that?" Kirsten questioned ignoring Sandy.

"Honey, please, don't think about it right now. You need to rest. We'll deal with it later." They sat in silence for a moment. "I love you. You know that?"

"Yeah," Kirsten said sleepily. "I know that. I love you too."

"You should get some sleep, baby," Sandy said holding her hand and rubbing his thumb across the back of it. Kirsten nodded and closed her eyes again. "I'll keep Seth from waking you up. I promise."


	17. Sorry

So I finished my paper. So that means that I can write a chapter of this instead of starting my reading for my Holocaust class. Which, today in that class we had to watch this video, and I was so upset after watching it that I had to sit there for like five minutes to compose myself before I could leave. And then as we were walking out, all these other kids were looking at us, and I would imagine that it's quite a sight to see a bunch of kids fililng out of the room with red, puffy eyes. I swear I'm going to have nightmares from it. It's like when I watch _Schindler's List_ and I'm wrecked for like a week...anyway, I just can't read for that class right now, and so you benefit! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: As much as I wish that they were...the characters are not mine.

* * *

The next week seemed to be a whirlwind for Ryan. He should have been settling down into life with the Cohens these couple of weeks after he moved in, instead they were waiting for Kirsten to be released from the hospital, getting the house ready for her when she did come home, and waiting for what would happen next to Marissa. 

On top of all of that, he was adjusting to being back at school again for the first time in a long time. His teachers, along with Seth's and Summer's, were very understanding about the accident and allowed them to take all of the time they needed. Ryan also got a real sense of how beloved the Cohens were in town, when his western civilization teacher stopped him as he was leaving to ask him how Kirsten was doing on his first day back.

"Is she being released from the hospital yet?" Mr. Gray had asked. "How is she doing? Did she start physical therapy yet?" Ryan answered no, fine, and yes, and then tried to escape, but found that he was not done asking questions yet. "Tell her that we're all thinking of her." Ryan knew that everyone was thinking of her; he and Seth had been on Newpsie phone duty, which meant fielding calls all day. And then listening to them talk about how much they loved Kirsten, how they were praying for them. Seth had gotten upset once, slamming the phone down making both Ryan, and Summer, who had been spending the majority of her time there, jump in the air.

"What's the deal Cohen?" Summer demanded, placing her hands on her hips. She had been getting quite good at maneuvering on her crutches.

"God! They're acting like she's dead! 'She didn't deserve this…how are you all holding up? Our prayers are with your family at this time…' I know it's nice. I know that they're trying to be nice, but if I talk to one more goddamned Newpsie, I'm going to commit a double homicide!" Seth stalked away leaving both Ryan and Summer looking amazed after him.

"What was that about?" Summer asked shaking her head.

"He came too close to losing her," Ryan answered. It happened with Sandy too, every once in awhile, when they were at the hospital and Kirsten was off at physical therapy, Sandy would get this far away, sad look in his eyes and Ryan knew that he was thinking about what would have happened if she hadn't made it through. All of them had to imagine her being gone, and it had been too real, too scary to just move on and forget that they had almost _lost_ her. "He's just…"

"I'll go talk to him," Summer interrupted.

"No," Ryan said. "Stay here. I'll go talk to him." And he found Seth in the poolhouse, not really doing anything but staring at the phone as if he was daring it to ring.

"Sorry about that," Seth said monotone.

"No don't worry about it," Ryan said waving his hand and dismissing Seth's apology. "Are you okay?" Seth shrugged.

"She's okay, and I know that, but God…what if…what if she wasn't?" Seth's voice shook, and he shook his head. "And I can't stop thinking about that what if."

"She is okay though, Seth," Ryan said softly. "Why don't we go down to the hospital and see her? Give your dad a break." Sandy had taken time off work, and had told Ryan that he wasn't going to go home until Kirsten did. Ryan hoped for both their sakes that that day would be soon. Sandy was exhausted.

"Yeah," Seth nodded. "That's a good idea." He needed to see his mother. He needed to be reminded that she was okay. And she was okay. She was even supposed to come home in a few days. His dad had ordered that he and Ryan have the house spotless for her arrival. Generally Seth disapproved of physical labor, and was opposed to any type of cleaning, and although this time, with his broken arm, he did have an excuse, he had complied and cleaned his parent's bedroom for his mother. This had been detrimental to his health in a different way, when he discovered a negligee under the bed that seemed to a piece, a very small piece, of sheer cloth with some bows. The pair of handcuffs that he found when he opened up his mother's top drawer of her nightstand to place the remote in were the final straw, and he had walked downstairs, handed the rag that he had been using to dust to Summer, and claimed that he was going to be sick.

From that point on Summer handled Sandy and Kirsten's room, Seth was too mortified to go back in, and Ryan really did not want to learn things about his new foster parents by discovering anything. Summer had instead cleaned, and kept her mouth shut when she discovered the almost empty bottom of whipped cream that had rolled under the bed, or the second piece of lingerie which Seth was right, was no more than some string and some lace.

When they got to the hospital, Kirsten was awake and talking quietly with Sandy. Seth went to his mother's side immediately and took her free hand.

"Hi sweetie," she said smiling wanly at him. It killed Seth to see her in as much pain as she was in. "Sweeties," Kirsten corrected when she spotted Ryan and Summer hanging by the door.

"Kids," Sandy acknowledged. "Want to hear the good news?" He paused, and when he got a few nods, he continued excitedly, "Your mom can go home the day after tomorrow. She will still need to come in for physical therapy and she'll have to stay in bed." He turned to Kirsten and pointed a warning finger in her direction. "Which she will do." Kirsten nodded, and didn't tell her husband that she doubted that she had the energy to get out of bed.

"That's great," Ryan said grinning at Kirsten, who in turn beamed back at him. There was a moment where no one spoke and Kirsten quietly asked,

"What's happening with Marissa?"

"Her mother hired a pretty good lawyer, she got her license revoked until she's eighteen, and she got a pretty severe amount of community service hours, and she got fined, but other than that..." Summer trailed off and shrugged. Even though Marissa was her best friend Summer thought that just getting her license revoked and having to clean up garbage on the side of the road wasn't enough. She had almost killed Kirsten. She had caused all kinds of pain, and she herself wasn't hurt at all. Summer thought it was all kinds of unfair that Marissa had walked away from the accident. And clearly hadn't learned her lesson, because when Summer called over there, her best friend had sounded like she might have had a little too many.

No one said anything more about Marissa Cooper, and Ryan remembered Kirsten telling him when they were leaving Harbor the first time to be careful of Marissa. Kirsten had implied that Marissa was. He hadn't listened, and look where that had gotten him. Sometimes it amazed him that a month ago he didn't know any of these people. And then he met Kirsten, and that meeting at the construction site changed everything.

"That's great news though, about you coming home!" Summer said anxious to change the subject and ease the sudden tension in the room.

"We cleaned for you," Seth said proudly.

"You cleaned?" Kirsten asked in surprise. "Seth Cohen? Cleaned?"

"Hey, I will have you know that I am an excellent cleaner...I just prefer to save my talents for when they are really in need."

"Because picking up after yourself is far too much work," Sandy said rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't want to use up all your talents at once."

"Exactly, Father, I knew you got me," Seth said patting his father on the back. "And by the way…never again am I going into your bedroom." Kirsten blushed and exchanged a look with Sandy.

"What did you find exactly?" Sandy asked cautiously.

"I blocked it out for my own good," Seth answered. "But the item that you have in mom's top drawer of her nightstand will be disposed of properly yes?"

"Well, thank God, you didn't look in my nightstand," Sandy said, and was pleased when Seth made a gagging sound and pretended to run to the bathroom. "It's too easy."

* * *

"Ryan!" Ryan was taking out the garbage on the night before Kirsten was coming home. They were all excited, but no one more than Kirsten who just wanted to get home and into her own bed. He was surprised at the sound of his voice, and even more surprised to find out who was calling his name.

"Marissa," he replied flatly. She was jogging up the driveway and he wanted to turn and walk back into the house and slam the door in her face, but instead stayed put.

"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you…" She started.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Ryan, please…"

"Seriously, Marissa, I have nothing to say to you."

"I just wanted to apologize…"

"Marissa…" Ryan said closing his eyes.

"No, I'm so sorry. I sent a card to Kirsten…did she get it?"

"I don't know," Ryan said honestly. He wasn't sure if Kirsten had gotten a card from Marissa, she had gotten so many cards and flowers and mini-muffin baskets that it was hard for them to keep track of what came from whom.

"I said I was sorry in it. I heard she's getting home tomorrow."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, Ryan…what more can I do?"

"You did enough," he replied icily. "I'm going to go."

"Please! Please! Summer won't really talk to me, and my parents are so mad at me, and…"

"Marissa! Do you get that Kirsten almost died? Do you get that Seth, and Summer, and Sandy all broke a bone… We were hurt Marissa. Seriously hurt, and it was your fault. So, I don't care that Summer won't talk to you. I wouldn't talk to you either if I were her. Her leg is broken because of you. And it's good that your parents are mad at you. Everyone is mad at you Marissa. You fucked up." It was the most words that Ryan had spoken in a long time and he felt exhausted. Marissa had tears running down her face, and Ryan didn't want to deal with it. He didn't have the energy to deal with her.

"Go home, Marissa."

"I'm sorry, Ryan. I'm so sorry." Ryan shook his head. How many times in his life had a hysterical female apologized to him? How many times had his mother? And now Marissa. It was one of his favorite things about both Summer and Kirsten that they didn't seem to be highly emotional females. He was sick of being apologized to. He was sick of having things happened that had to be apologized for. Maybe, a long time ago, he could have forgiven Marissa. But not now. Not when she had hurt Kirsten and the rest of the Cohens, and Summer, and him too. Not when she had been stupid. A stupid, spoiled kid who expected him to just forgive her. Just like that. He turned to Marissa and looked at her, and sighed.

"I wish that meant something."


	18. Smooth

I'm sorry this took so long. I couldn't figure out how to finish the chapter...and then Thanksgiving came, and with all the eating I just didn't have time, but here it is, I hope it was worth the wait.

Disclaimer: Uh, I don't own any of the characters.

* * *

"Summer, will you please hand me the tape?" Seth asked as he stood perched precariously on top of a chair.

"Maybe I should do this?" Ryan suggested. "Seeing as I'm the only one with all of my bones intact?"

"Way to rub it in," Seth muttered as he tried, unsuccessfully to hang up the sign welcoming his mother home up with one arm.

"Seriously Cohen," Summer said from down below where she was displaying all of the cards and baskets that had come for Kirsten and the rest of the Cohens. "Get down from there before you kill yourself. Cause that's exactly what we'll want. To have to go back to the hospital…" Seth sighed and hopped off the chair. After Summer nodded her approval to the hanging of the banner, she went back to the cards. Her stomach flipped slightly when she saw the return address.

Marissa.

She knew that Ryan had said that Marissa had sent a card to Kirsten. He had mentioned in passing that he had gotten into a little disagreement with her out on the driveway, and he also told Summer that he didn't blame her for not wanting to talk to Marissa. Summer had felt guilty about not talking to Marissa, she knew logically that she had every right to be angry with her, but it was also Coop. Her best friend since elementary school. And Summer felt like she should be supportive in some way. But then she would go with Seth and Ryan to the hospital and see the pain that Kirsten was still in, and she couldn't make herself forgive and forget that quickly. It had been a relief to know that Ryan had understood her reasons.

"Hey," Summer said. "I found Marissa's card. What should I do with it?" She looked up and both Seth and Ryan were staring at it.

"Open it and read it?" Seth suggested curiosity getting the better of him. Ryan nodded, and Summer slid her finger under the flap and pulled out the card. Her eyes scanned the message, and Seth impatiently tapped his finger on the outside of the card. "Out loud Summer."

"Right," Summer replied nodding. "'Dear Kirsten, I cannot even begin to say how sorry I am. I was being stupid and selfish and I put you and your family in danger. I don't know what I can do to make it up to you, but if there's any way that you could forgive me…tell me what to do and I'll do it. Again, I am so sorry. Marissa.'" Summer paused. "There's a note from Mr. Cooper too, 'Kirsten, I'm sorry for everything that has happened, and Sandy, I'm sorry for that day in the hospital.'" Summer looked at Seth or Ryan for some explanation and they both shrugged. "'I know that you probably want nothing to do with me or my family, but you are my oldest friend, and I don't know what I would do if I lost you. There has to be some way that we can make this better. I don't want to lose you guys as our friends. Kiks, I hope you can accept our sincere apology…Jimmy.'" All three were silent for a minute, before Seth reached down and took the card from Summer.

"I guess we should just throw it away?" He asked.

"No," Ryan spoke up. "You should at least give it to your dad. Let him decide whether or not to give it to Kirsten. That's not our call." With that, he took the Coopers' card and placed it underneath a basket where it was within reach, but it wouldn't be the first thing that Kirsten grabbed. "Let's finish getting everything ready."

"When will they be home?" Summer asked glad for the change in subject from Marissa.

"Soon," Seth answered. The doorbell rang and Summer and Ryan exchanged looks. "Last time I checked my parents did not ring the doorbell of their own house, so I doubt that it's them." He put down the balloon that he was blowing up and went to the door.

"Anna?" He asked when he saw the blonde standing on the other side. "Hey."

"Seth! Are you okay? I just heard what happened!" Anna reached forward to give him a hug. "How's your mom?"

"She's coming home today," Seth replied moving aside to let Anna in. "This is Ryan…and Summer."

"Are you guys okay?" Anna asked taking in Summer's broken leg.

"We'll survive," Seth said seriously.

"We're trying to get the house ready for Seth's parents," Ryan explained.

"Can I help?" Anna asked putting down her purse and shrugging out of her coat. "I'm sorry that I didn't come sooner. I was in Pittsburgh for the week with my parents. I heard about it as soon as I got back to school. I meant to come, but I just got so wrapped up in the school work I had to catch up on… Anyway, I'm so glad that you guys are okay."

"Thanks," Seth said grinning at her, and then grinned even broader at the jealous look on Summer's face. Summer was jealous? Summer was jealous! Seth wanted to do a dance right there in his living room, and would have too, if the consequences weren't so dangerous. The way that Summer was glaring, Seth figured that anyone who pushed her over the edge would pay dearly. "We have to hurry though, my dad is bringing my mom home really soon."

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm here," Anna told him smiling.

"Why is that a good thing?" Summer asked her eyes narrowing.

"We can get done faster if there's four of us," Anna explained slowly. "And you have a broken leg, and Seth has a broken arm, and I have two good arms and two good legs." She grabbed a balloon and began to fill it up.

"Oh yeah?" Summer said under her breath. "For how long?" She went to lunge at her, but Ryan placed an arm around her waist and pulled her back. Seth looked over at Summer who was clearly having what she called her "rage blackouts." Seth and Ryan had been forewarned about them, and now were witnessing one first hand.

"Maybe you should keep them apart?" Ryan suggested to Seth.

"Good call," Seth said seriously nodding.

* * *

Sandy helped Kirsten out of the car and watched her with her crutches for only a second before deciding that she wasn't ready to be trying to get around on those exhausting things, and scooped her up and carried her in.

"Sandy, I'm going to have to learn to maneuver on those things," Kirsten complained halfheartedly.

"Sweetheart, you're still healing from surgery, you have to take it easy this week, remember? You're not supposed to leave your bed." Kirsten pouted slightly and Sandy shook his head. "You are going to stay in bed until you are allowed out of it, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Kirsten giggled slightly.

"Is that Mom giggling I hear?" Seth asked incredulously. "Mom doesn't giggle." Sandy placed Kirsten on the couch as she took in all of the baskets and the cards sent to her.

"She's still on a lot of pain killers," Sandy said under his breath to Seth. "She thinks a lot of things are funny that aren't."

"Ohh! Mini-muffins!" Kirsten exclaimed reaching for them. Ryan was quick to jump to his feet and grab the basket for her. She beamed and motioned for him to come down so that she could place a grateful kiss on his cheek. "Thank you sweetheart. Oh, they're chocolate chip too! Sandy! They're chocolate chip!" Sandy and his sons exchanged a look.

"Come on, baby," Sandy said scooping her up again. "We have to get you in bed." Kirsten nodded, but motioned to the baskets.

"But can someone grab the muffins?" Seth saluted and grabbed a few baskets and followed his parents up the stairs. Anna had run home, promising to be back later for the movie marathon that they had planned, and Summer was in the kitchen getting Kirsten a glass of water to put next to her bed.

"Sum! She's going to need milk instead," Seth called and Ryan grabbed some of the cards and hurried after the Cohens. Summer came up behind him and they walked in just as Sandy was tucking his wife in.

"The banner was beautiful guys," Kirsten said sincerely as Ryan handed her the cards, and Summer set the milk on Kirsten's nightstand. "Thank you so much."

"We're so glad that you're home," Summer told her smiling. She was amazed that she was over the Cohens' house welcoming Kirsten home. The _Cohens'_ house. She had only been there for Newport parties with her father. Seth Cohen's house. It was unbelievable. And she wasn't talking to Coop. Or Holly. Or Luke. But instead she had planned a night at home with Seth Cohen, and his pseudo brother, and that Anna girl, who Summer was sure was a very nice person, but at the very moment in time, Summer wanted to kick her ass.

A lot had changed in a short time, and Summer was still struggling to wrap her mind around it.

Like why did she want to kick Anna's ass? So Anna liked Seth? It wasn't as if she was dating Seth or anything. It wasn't like she liked Seth…Oh God, she liked Seth. She liked Seth Cohen. She looked over at him as he doted on his mother, fluffing her pillows and making sure that she had the muffin basket close by if she needed it. She liked Seth Cohen. And she was okay with that.

"We are _so_ glad," Sandy said leaning down to place a kiss on Kirsten's forehead. "But you should get some rest. We'll be downstairs if you need us." He ushered the kids out of the room and down the stairs.

"Dad?" Seth figured it was the best time to bring up the Cooper's card. Actually there was no good time, he knew that his father would not appreciate the gesture. Sandy Cohen was a forgiving guy, but not when it came to his wife or sons. Sons. Sandy's heart had stopped when Seth said that Ryan was hurt and treated in trauma. After only a week. Kirsten had been right about Ryan. There was something about him.

"Yeah Seth?"

"Mom got a card, from the Coopers….well Marissa and Jimmy anyway…and I just…we didn't know whether to give it to her, or throw it away…" Sandy sighed. He knew that they would have to deal with the Coopers, he was just hoping that he could put it off for a little bit longer.

"Where is it?" He asked. Ryan retrieved it from where he had put it and handed it to Sandy who quickly read it over.

"Are you going to give it to her?" Ryan asked softly.

"I don't know," Sandy said running a hand over his face.

"I suggest that you do it now, while she's in such a good mood," Seth suggested nodding seriously. "We should always have her on pain killers." Sandy fingered the card again. He knew that he probably should give it to Kirsten. But he didn't want her to get upset, and that was exactly what would happen if he gave it to her.

"Well, this place looks great," Sandy said changing the subject. He placed the card back down on the counter and smiled at the boys. "Seriously boys, and girl," he said nodding to Summer. "Thank you for doing this."

"No problem Mr. C," Summer grinned. "It was our pleasure."

"What do you kids have planned for the evening?" Sandy asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"We're having a Japanese movie marathon," Seth said excitedly. "Anna, you remember Anna? She's coming over too." Sandy raised his eyebrows at this, and out of the corner of his eye saw Ryan shake his head in amusement. Sandy also caught Summer rolling her eyes at Anna's name and knew that his son was courting trouble.

"Well, that sounds nice," Sandy said. "I'm going to go catch up on some work, if you need me, I'll be in my office." As he walked away he heard Summer make some comment on Anna's impending arrival, and it was his turn to shake his head.

Oh yes, Seth was certainly going to be in trouble.

* * *

Sandy walked back upstairs a little while later to check on Kirsten. Her leg was propped up with pillows, and she was snoring slightly. She winced in her sleep, and Sandy sighed. He knew that despite the painkillers she was on, she was still in pain, and he wished he could do something, anything, to make it better for her. He placed a new glass of water on her nightstand, and pushed the hair that had fallen in her face back. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek, and placed the Cooper's card down on his side of the bed. Kirsten stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," Sandy said softly.

"Hey," Kirsten replied.

"How are you feeling?" Sandy asked. Kirsten shrugged.

"I've been better," she said. Sandy reached for the bottle of painkillers and attempted to open the bottle with his broken arm. After watching in amusement for a few moments, Kirsten had pity on him and reached out and took the bottle herself poured one out into her hand.

"Here, baby," he said handing her the glass of water. He helped her sit up and she swallowed the pill and sighed as she leaned back against her pillows.

"Thank you, honey," she told Sandy tiredly. Sandy reached for the card and sat down next to his wife.

"A card came for you, from the Coopers…I didn't know if you wanted it. If you want me to toss it, just say the word," Sandy offered.

"No," Kirsten said holding out her hand. "I want to read it." Sandy placed the card in her outstretched hand. He watched her face as she read the card, and was disappointed when her face gave nothing away. She closed the card and placed it on the table next to her, and said nothing.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently.

"What happened? In the hospital? What happened? What was Jimmy talking about?"

"He asked me to represent Marissa," Sandy admitted taking her hand in his and interlacing their fingers together. "When you were still…when we didn't…" He closed his eyes and couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't admit to her how close they had been to losing her, and how much that had terrified him.

"And you told him no, obviously," Kirsten said.

"I laughed in his face," Sandy told her. At this, Kirsten's face broke out in a small smile. Kirsten turned to look out the window and was quiet for another moment. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I was just thinking about Jimmy's request…to forgive him…them. Him and Marissa. Marissa could have killed our boys, Sandy. She could have killed you! I don't know if I can forgive her for that…"

"And you," Sandy whispered picking up her hand and giving it a kiss. "We could have lost you. Do you understand how close we came to losing you?" He had tried to not show her how upset he had been, trying not to get her upset, he had tried to remain strong when he was with her, but he found himself suddenly beginning to cry, and Kirsten was surprised for a moment, and then wrapped her arms around Sandy, ignoring her body's protests, and held him.

"It's okay, you didn't okay? I'm here, I'm not going anywhere," she whispered. "Baby, it's okay. Sandy, baby, I'm okay." He gripped onto her pajama top and cried into her shoulders.

"We almost lost you," he kept repeating. "We almost lost you." He leaned up and kissed her on the lips and then on the cheek and then again on the lips, it was if he was reassuring himself that she was real and alive in front of him.

* * *

The next morning, Kirsten woke up with Sandy still holding on to her with his good arm, and she smiled slightly. She wondered if she could make it to the bathroom without having to wake him up. The painkillers had long worn off and her battered body ached, but she gently moved Sandy's arm and placed her broken leg on the floor and then reached for the crutches that were leaning against the wall near her bed.

"Where are you going?" Sandy's voice startled her.

"I have to go to the bathroom, and I didn't want to wake you up," Kirsten answered. Sandy got up and went over to her side and helped her to her feet. They slowly made their way to the bathroom.

"I'll go get you some breakfast," he said.

"No, I want to eat breakfast downstairs with the boys," Kirsten replied.

"Honey…"

"I don't care, Sandy, I want to eat breakfast downstairs with the boys," she answered adamantly. "I have no idea what's going on with their lives and I want to talk to them."

"How about we eat outside? That way there's not as many stairs and you can get some fresh air and talk to the boys?" Sandy offered.

"Fine." Sandy gave her a kiss on the cheek and left her momentarily to tell the boys to take their breakfast outside to the patio. Sandy was happy to see that Ryan was eating the cereal out of the box like Seth did. It meant that maybe Ryan was finally getting settled there, with them. He knew that Ryan's acclimation into the Cohen house was disrupted by the accident, and he wasn't entirely sure if Ryan was comfortable around them yet, but the disgusting eating of the cereal out of the box was a sign that he might be getting used to being there.

"Oh, and get yourselves a bowl, your mother will think that you've turned into heathens while she was in the hospital," Sandy requested hurrying back up to the kitchen, before he left, he saw Ryan reach for two bowls and place one in front of Seth who made a face.

Sandy helped Kirsten get settled outside and they were joined a second later by Ryan and Seth.

"How are you feeling today?" Ryan asked as Kirsten took a sip of her coffee. Kirsten shrugged.

"Better, I guess. And you?"

"Hey, Seth, come help me in the kitchen," Sandy suggested and he and Seth disappeared into the kitchen. Kirsten rolled her eyes, she and Sandy had talked about how she wanted to talk to Ryan a little bit more about everything and how he was dealing with it. But Sandy could have been a little less obvious about it. Smooth, Kirsten thought. Real smooth, Sandy.

"I'm okay," Ryan said shrugging. "I wasn't as bad as you…"

"Well, no, but you were still banged up," Kirsten replied. "I just want to be sure you are okay."

"I'm okay…." Ryan mumbled.

"How's school?" Kirsten asked. She could see that Ryan was uncomfortable with talking about the accident, and she wanted to keep him talking.

"It's okay. Hard."

"Well, you haven't been in school in awhile, right? It was bound to be tough to go back," Kirsten pointed out.

"Yeah," Ryan said scuffing his foot against the concrete.

"Do you like your classes?"

"They're okay."

"Just okay?" Kirsten asked with a small smile. Ryan nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for your first real week of school." Was Kirsten apologizing to him? Seriously? Ryan shook his head.

"Don't apologize, please," he stated not looking at her. "You have nothing to apologize for." Kirsten reached over and placed a hand over his.

"I'll stop apologizing for nothing, if you will," she proposed. Ryan looked up at her and nodded with a small smile.

"I'll try," he offered.

"That's all I can ask," Kirsten replied letting go and leaning back against the chair.


	19. Super stealth

So I hope that you enjoy. Please read and review! Thanks.

Disclaimer: Um the characters aren't mine.

* * *

"Come on man," Seth whined. "It's a party. A party that Summer invited me to. She invited me to a party! Do you understand that? Summer Roberts invited me, Seth Cohen, to go to a party with her…in public!"

"I understand, that doesn't mean that I want to go," Ryan argued back sighing as he flipped through his text book trying to ignore Seth. "I wanted to stay in tonight and study." Seth scoffed.

"Studying? You are going to stay in and study? Studying? When there is a party with hot girls?"

"You can go without me," Ryan said. Seth shook his head.

"You are coming. Whether or not you want to. You are coming out tonight with me. You are. There's no room for argument. I will not allow any arguments."

"Seriously Seth, I'm not used to having this much homework to do. And I need to do it."

"Tomorrow. You can study tomorrow." Seth clasped his hands in a pleading way and gave Ryan the best sad eyes that he could muster, and apparently it worked, because Ryan found himself nodding.

"We aren't going to stay late," he said warning Seth with a finger as he stood up to change his shirt.

"Got it. We won't stay late," Seth promised. "We'll just go, and see Summer, and chat a bit and go home. I'm going to go change and try to do something with my hair. I'll meet you in the front hall." Ryan nodded, resigned to his fate, and watched as Seth hurried across the patio in excitement. He finished changing and went into the kitchen to wait. Sandy and Kirsten were in the living room. Kirsten was resting on the couch, her leg in its cast propped up on a pile of pillows, her head resting on a pillow on Sandy's lap.

"Hey, kid," Sandy said as Ryan came in to sit in the chair next to them. "I hear you guys are going to a party?"

"Yeah, if that's okay?"

"It's fine," Kirsten said. "Just the usual rules apply. No drinking. No drugs. And if for some reason you do drink, no driving. Call us and Sandy will come get you." Sandy nodded his agreement with the rules.

"And be home by midnight."

"Don't worry, we won't be late," Ryan promised.

"Okay, good," Sandy said. "Well then have a good time. Keep an eye on Seth for us, will you?"

"Sure," Ryan answered shrugging. "Are you guys just staying in tonight?"

"Yes," Kirsten said turning her head slightly so that she could see him. "Sandy promised that we could watch whatever movie I wanted." She grinned at Ryan, and then smirked at her husband who sighed a huge, heaving sigh.

"And I've regretted that decision since then," Sandy said shaking his head sadly. "Have fun for me tonight will you? I'll be living vicariously through you." Kirsten punched him lightly in the chest. Seth appeared in the living room still grinning.

"You ready to go?" He asked Ryan, who resigned to his fate like Sandy had and got up to follow Seth. He couldn't help but think that he would rather be watching some girly movie with Kirsten and Sandy then going to a party with Seth while he goggled at Summer all night. "Keys Dad?"

"Let Ryan drive," Kirsten requested. She got nervous with Seth and Sandy driving with their arms in a cast.

"Fine," Seth said nodding. He was just happy that Ryan was willing to go out with him that night. That Summer had invited him to this party. Summer. Summer had invited him. He couldn't get over it. "Let's go."

* * *

Seth was pissing off the big water polo players. Ryan had a knack for being able to tell when someone was getting angry, and he could see that Seth, now drunk off of two beers, was a comment away from getting his ass kicked. Not that Ryan could necessarily say that Seth didn't deserve it, but he had promised Sandy and Kirsten that he would keep an eye on Seth, and so he put down his water, after all someone had to stay sober, and went over to where they were standing and tapped Seth on the shoulder.

"Seth, let's go," Ryan suggested.

"What? No!" Seth argued. "We're just talking here…I don't want to go yet." Ryan closed his eyes for a second and resisted the urge to punch Seth himself. He had been trying to get Seth to leave for the last half hour, they had to leave soon, they were getting close to the curfew that Sandy had set. Actually, they probably were already late for the curfew that Sandy had set. Ryan wasn't used to curfews, and wasn't sure how strict Sandy and Kirsten were about the curfew, but he didn't want to push it. Not only that, but he would also now have to hide the fact that Seth was smashed. Who knew that his tolerance was so low that it only took a couple beers to get him wasted? Had Ryan known that at the beginning of the night, he would have told him to slow down.

"Seth, come on," Ryan said grabbing his arm to pull him away.

"No! I'm talking to these guys, these guys who totally shave their chests," Seth said. He had walked up to the group of water polo players, spurred on by the alcohol and had told them that he, Seth Cohen, had been invited by Summer Roberts, and how did that make them feel? From that point on, Seth had chatted away, ignoring the looks of death that he was receiving.

It was after that comment that Ryan saw the one's arm swing back and knew that Seth was about to get punched in the face. He had barely time to react before the fist connected with Seth's face. Ryan reacted immediately, punching back, and for his efforts, got a fist in the face. Before a full-scale fight could break out, Summer, also drunk, tottered over and yelled at them to stop.

"Stop it! Stop it!" She screamed trying to balance. Like Kirsten, she had a walking cast, but with some alcohol in her system, she was having some trouble even with the walking cast. "Stop it!" Seth grinned drunkenly up at her for saving him, but after the water polo players had dispersed, she turned to Seth and shook her head sadly at him. "Go home, Cohen. Ryan…get him home okay?"

"Are you going to be okay getting home?" Ryan asked gingerly touching his cheek, and wincing. "Let me drive you home." Summer looked over at her friends, who were laughing at what had just happened and then back at Seth and Ryan.

"Fine," she said. "Let me just grab my purse." Ryan knew that driving Summer home was going to make them late for curfew, but he figure they were coming home with black eyes so being a little late was going to be the least of their problems.

God, Kirsten was going to be so upset. And Sandy, he had asked him to keep an eye on Seth, and what he had done? He had let the kid get punched. First he had gotten the whole family nearly killed, even though both Kirsten and Sandy kept reminding him, almost every chance they got, that it was Marissa's fault, and not his, and now he was bringing home their son, drunk and beaten up. God. He would be amazed if they didn't kick him out tonight. Surely Kirsten and Sandy had to have some line drawn, and he would imagine getting Seth hurt for the second time would be that line.

Summer appeared with her things and Ryan grabbed Seth's arm and pulled him out of the party and pushed him into the backseat. Summer climbed in and they drove home in silence.

"Thanks," Summer said when they pulled up outside of her house. She glanced into the backseat where Seth was slumped over, and sighed and climbed out of the car. Ryan waited until she was in safe before starting the car and driving away.

"Seth, when we get home, you have to be quiet okay?"

"Got it. All capture-the-flag champ at Camp Takaho. Because? Because I'm stealth. I'm super stealth." Ryan just ignored him, and pulled up to the Cohen's house and turned off the car and took a deep breath before climbing out. The door opened and Sandy stood there wrapped in a robe and tapping his watch. Ryan looked down at his own watch and realized that they weren't just a little bit late. He hadn't been paying as much attention to the time as he had thought he was. They were well over an hour past curfew.

"Shit," Ryan whispered under his breath and climbed slowly out of the car.

"Where have you guys been?" Sandy asked. "Kirsten and I were starting to worry."

"Starting?" Kirsten's voice interrupted. "No. I'm worried. I've been worried for the past hour. You guys have some explaining to do." Sandy had tried to reassure that she was just being paranoid, and that they were teenage boys who were bound to miss curfew, but Kirsten had been nervous about anyone in the family driving since the accident, and had checked the clock what seemed to Sandy like every ten seconds.

"Mom!" Seth said gleefully as he climbed out of the car and made his way over to his parents. Up until this point, Ryan had remained in the shadows, hiding his bruised face, but as soon as Seth stepped into the spotlight, his quickly turning black and blue eye was on display for his parents. "It's all good, no need to get your panties all into a twist. We're okay. We're a little late, sure, but don't you think that we need, as a society, to do away with the time restraints that we put on ourselves? Time is fleeting, Mother, we need to make the most of it."

"What happened to your face?" Kirsten exclaimed ignoring Seth's speech and taking his face in her hands to examine it. She took one whiff of his breath and her hand dropped angrily. "Are you drunk?" She looked back at Ryan, and motioned for him to step forward. He begrudgingly obliged, and Kirsten studied his face. "Were you drinking?" She asked Ryan.

"No," Ryan replied shaking his head. "I was driving. So I didn't drink."

"Good," Sandy said breaking into the conversation. Seth was at least sober enough to realize that he shouldn't speak up. "That's very good."

"Get in the house," Kirsten said barely concealing her anger. Ryan hung his head and went in first. He looked around the house, he wanted to get a good look, engrave it in his mind, in case this was his last night here. He was trouble, he got it, and he got why Sandy and Kirsten wouldn't want him there. And it just hurt, after all they had gone through after the accident, but he understood.

"Sit," Kirsten's voice was fierce and left no room for argument. Seth had quickly sobered up at his mother's angry tone and sat on the couch. Ryan lowered himself next to Seth and braced himself. "What happened? Why do you both have black eyes?"

"It's my fault," Ryan started. "I…"

"No," Seth interrupted. "It was my fault. I was being stupid, I was gloating to some big water polo players about the fact that Summer had asked me there. Ryan had been trying to get me to leave for the past like hour and I wouldn't go. I made us late for curfew, I provoked the fight. And we're super late because Ryan wanted to make sure that Summer got home okay." Sandy nodded slowly.

"Anything that you would like to add kid?" He asked Ryan.

"It's not all Seth's fault," Ryan mumbled. "I could have…" He trailed off. What could he have done? Grabbed Seth and pulled him out of the party kicking and screaming? Made sure that he didn't drink anymore? Kirsten shook her head cutting him off.

"Thank you for being responsible enough to not drink and drive, and while I don't condone the fighting, I think I get that Seth was the one who was provoking the fight and you just happened to get in the middle of it?"

"Well, I punched the guy," Ryan admitted.

"Because he punched me!" Seth chimed in. Sandy held up his hand.

"The peanut gallery will keep their comments to themselves until they are asked to speak," he told Seth.

"Well, still," Kirsten said. Her tone was soft. "We should get you something for that eye. Sandy? Go get them some ice packs?" Sandy nodded and walked to the kitchen. "Seth? You are grounded for two weeks. One week for the drinking, one week for the fighting."

"But Mom…" Seth started.

"Keep it up Seth, and I'll add a week for missing curfew," she warned. "Go drink some water, put the ice pack on your face and go to bed." Seth got to his feet, his buzz definitely gone at the prospect of spending two weeks in the house, took the ice pack off of his dad and stomped up the stairs.

"And Ryan," Sandy said. "Next time just try not to resort to violence?" Ryan nodded, a little confused as to what had just happened. They hadn't kicked him out. He wasn't even sure if he was grounded.

"So two weeks for me too?" He asked.

"Well, you were at the party, but you didn't drink, and you should get some points for that, and you got a black eye for defending Seth, and you only missed curfew because you were driving Summer home," Kirsten said. She looked to Sandy who shrugged. She was pretty sure that the night had been Seth's idea, and she didn't think Ryan had had much fun at the party, and so she really saw no need to punish him. "Maybe you can just help me make breakfast for the next week? For the fighting?"

"That's it?" Ryan asked surprised. "I mean, I can help, but shouldn't I be grounded?"

"Think of this as a gift," Sandy said. "We realize that Seth had been the one drinking and mouthing off to people way bigger than him. You should have left when you knew that there was alcohol at the party, but you didn't drink, and that's something. You shouldn't get punished for the stupid things that Seth does."

"I…okay," Ryan nodded. "Thanks."

"Oh? Ryan?" Sandy called out. "By help Kirsten make breakfast, we really mean make it for her. There's no need to punish all of us." Kirsten glared at her husband and Ryan grinned and waved goodnight as he went out to the pool house.


	20. Merry Chrismukkah

I'm starting to wrap this one up, I think. I apologize for it taking so long. It's been crazy lately, what with the holidays and finals week and not to mention a little bit of writer's block. So here's a Chrismukkah present, just a tiny bit late.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Oh how I wish I did though.

* * *

"It's Chrismukkah."

"What-ta-kah?" Ryan asked confused.

"Chrismukkah," Seth said again slowly. "It's the fusion of Christmas and Hanukkah. The best that both have to offer. Eight days of presents followed by one day of a lot of presents."

"Oh, Seth's explaining Chrismukkah," Kirsten said as she walked in and saw the look on Ryan's face. "Hey, can you guys go help Sandy with the tree?"

"Mother, I don't do physical activities, you know this," Seth said with a sigh. Ryan hurried out and a minute later he and Sandy, with a little help from Kirsten, lugged in the tree. "Right there! Perfect. Way to go guys," was all that Seth contributed.

"So Chrismukkah?" Ryan questioned again.

"It's Seth's uber holiday," Kirsten started to explain. "I'm Christian. Sandy's Jewish. Seth took it upon himself to combine the two."

"And in doing so created the best holiday ever!" Seth said defensively.

"I'm not really big into Christmas," Ryan said shrugging.

"There are no traditions that you and your family used to do?" Sandy asked. "I'm sure we can fit them in."

"Christmas usually consisted of my mom passing out and the cops being called," Ryan said shaking his head slightly. "Not exactly a Christmas tradition that needs to be passed on." The three Cohens were silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say, and finally Kirsten smiled brightly and placed an arm around Ryan's shoulders.

"Well, all new memories and traditions this year," she assured him. "Now come on, help me bring in the groceries."

"She went eggnog crazy," Sandy warned as they made their way out to the car. "And those suckers are heavy."

Ryan helped Kirsten put the groceries away and then went out to the pool house. It was hard to believe that he had been there for a little over three months. He occasionally saw Marissa in the halls at school, but luckily only had one class with her, which he had asked to be switched out of. He didn't want to hear about how her community service was going, or that she was sorry. For the first few weeks she would try apologizing every time she saw him or Seth but gave up when she realized that she wasn't making any headway with them. The only one that her apologies were making any difference on was Summer, who occasionally said hello back to her in the halls. Summer and Seth were officially dating, and had been for a month or so now. And Summer's new best friend was Anna of all people, and the craziest thing of all was that Ryan and Anna were starting to get closer. Ryan had the go ahead from Seth, and had asked her on a date, which had coincided with the Newport Group Christmas party, and so Ryan had just asked her if she wanted to go with him to that. She had agreed and Ryan had blushed and told her to come to the house so that they could go with Summer and Seth and Kirsten and Sandy.

He wondered if it would be a good Christmas in Newport. It had to be better than Chino's Christmas. Thanksgiving certainly was. He had called Trey in jail, but Trey had gotten on the phone and screamed at him for abandoning their mother, and asked why Ryan hadn't come to visit him in months, and blamed the Cohens for making his little brother go soft, and Ryan had hung up on him mid-sentence. Trey had no right to make him feel guilty. Where was Trey when Ryan had to drop out of school to work full time to pay for the bills? Trey was in jail for stealing a car. Ryan owed nothing to Trey. He tried to call his mother in rehab, but she too had refused his call. Instead the Cohens had invited Anna and Summer over, and the six of them had a drama-free, peaceful Thanksgiving. Kirsten's father had gone to some tropical island for a few weeks, and both Kirsten and Sandy were glad for the breather from her overbearing father.

The Coopers had to sell their house, and the last that he had heard they were living in a small house by the beach, and Julie and Jimmy were giving it another go. Apparently, Marissa's troubles had brought them together again. If Ryan never had to see or think about the Coopers again, he wouldn't mind at all. Kirsten, at first, had been getting calls from Jimmy Cooper begging for her forgiveness. He heard the messages when Kirsten refused to answer.

"Kiks, please, we've been friends for like, what, twenty years? Please, pick up the phone and talk to me. Or call me back. Please." Kirsten would sigh and delete the message. As far as Ryan knew, she too had yet to talk to any of the Coopers, and he was pretty sure that she wasn't ready to talk any time soon.

And Seth had learned his lesson with that first party, and Ryan was glad that he hadn't been dragged to anymore parties since then. He had been to plenty of parties in Chino with Theresa, and he didn't have any interest in them anymore.

Ryan hadn't even noticed it, but at some point in the past few months he had settled down into a routine with the Cohens. And he was comfortable there. With the Cohens. All of the Cohens, including Sandy. Seth was turning out to be a good friend, well, as long as he shut up for a few minutes every once in awhile and left Ryan in relative silence. Summer was good for him. They were good for each other.

There was a knock on the pool house door and Kirsten opened the door and stepped in. The Cohens had very little use for the word privacy. They always knocked, sure, but they didn't always wait for him to answer.

"Honey? Would you like to help us put up the ornaments on the tree?" Ryan nodded his consent and followed Kirsten out to the house. Sandy and Seth were already in the living room arguing over which ornaments to put up, and Kirsten settled herself in by the box. She wasn't picky and didn't really care which ornament went where. Seth usually insisted on having all of the ones that he made or that had his name or picture on them in the front. Sandy always argued that yes, Seth was an only child, but there were two other people in the family and while Seth could have most of his in the front of the tree, some of Kirsten's and Sandy's could go in front too.

Ryan took a seat next to Kirsten, figuring that Sandy and Seth could battle it out.

"Oh!" Kirsten said pulling out an ornament and holding it carefully in her hands. "Seth made this when he was three." Ryan, not for the first time, wished that someone had kept the things that he had made when he was a child. But he couldn't remember ever giving his mother anything that he made. He couldn't really ever remember making anything in school, though he figured that he had to at one point or another.

"Hand it over here, Mom," Seth said extending his hand. Kirsten handed it over and then her eyes got wide.

"I almost forgot!" She exclaimed jumping up from her seat and returning with a wrapped box that she handed to Ryan. "I just figured that you would need some ornaments too." Ryan, surprised, took the box from her hands. Sandy and Seth stopped to watch as Ryan undid the wrapping paper.

"God, I should have figured you'd be one of those who don't like to rip the wrapping paper," Seth asked complaining. "Just tear it open." Ryan glared at him, and slid his finger under the tape and slid the white box into his hands. Inside wasn't just one ornament, there were several. One said "Ryan's First Chrismukkah," another had a picture of him that had been taken after the accident, he was pretty sure Summer and Seth had been in the picture too, but had been cut out of it, a third was in the shape of a soccer ball, as Ryan had shown interest in maybe joining Harbor's team, and the last one, he noticed to his chagrin, was a Snoopy. Seth must have talked to Teresa, who Ryan still talked to at least once a week.

"I…thanks," he looked up at Kirsten and Sandy and gave them a smile. "These are really great. Thanks."

"Well, you couldn't not have ornaments, right?" Sandy said with a grin. "I need help keeping some of Seth's in the back of the tree." Kirsten picked up one from the box and handed it to Ryan.

"Go put it on the tree," she instructed, and Ryan followed her directions and found an empty spot and hung the ornament up and then stepped back to admire it.

"It looks good," Kirsten said. "Hang up the rest of them." Ryan took the box and found some empty spots and hung up all of his ornaments. His ornaments. He had a stocking too. And he had been on the Chrismukkah card. The Cohens, with their endless ability to include him in everything, never ceased to amaze him. They worked on the rest of the tree, Kirsten pulling out ornaments and handed them off to her boys, and Sandy and Seth argued over which ones went where while Ryan just placed them where he found an empty branch. When the tree was done, they all stood back to admire it.

"It looks great," Kirsten said putting an arm around Ryan, and another around Seth. "Really, really great."

"That it does," Sandy agreed heartily. "Now we better start to get ready for the Christmas party." He placed a hand on the small of Kirsten's back and led her out of the room.

"We have hours," Ryan said confused. "We didn't tell the girls to be here until like seven."

"Ah, yes, we have hours which is way more time than we need, my mother, on the other hand, is quickly becoming short on time. And my father, who has to reassure her fifty million times that he likes her dress, and her hair and her nails and her earrings and her necklace, and of course she's going to be the most beautiful one there," Seth made a face. "He has to do all of that and somehow manage to get ready so that my mother doesn't yell at him for making us late." Seth shook his head. "Every year dude. Every year."

* * *

The doorbell rang around seven and Ryan pulled it open to reveal, not Anna and Summer like he had been expecting, but instead Marissa.

"Marissa?" He asked confused.

"Hey, I just thought we could talk?"

"Tonight's the Christmas party at the Newport Group. We're leaving in like a minute," Ryan said first. "And besides, we don't have anything to talk about."

"I don't want you to hate me!"

"God, Marissa, I don't hate you," Ryan said sighing. "Not anymore. I just…I really don't think about you that much. I don't think about you enough to hate you."

"But Ryan…."

"I think you should leave." Marissa nodded and turned around to walk down to her car. "Marissa?" She turned around with a hopeful expression on her face. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," she replied and got into her car and had just pulled out when Summer and Anna pulled in.

"Hey," Anna said smiling at him.

"You look great," he told her blushing.

"Thanks, you clean up nicely yourself," she teased. Summer frowned in the direction of the road.

"Was that Marissa's car?" She asked. Ryan nodded with a sigh. "What did she want?"

"To talk."

"What did you tell her?" Anna asked concerned.

"I told her that I didn't hate her, I didn't think about her enough to hate her." Ryan shrugged. Ryan considered making a clean break from Marissa was just about the best thing that could have happened to him in Newport. Marissa reminded him too much of his mother. She was beautiful, yes, but she was also a mess. Kirsten had warned him when he had first met Marissa, and she had been right. Marissa, while she certainly wasn't a terrible person by any means, although the drunk driving was stupid, was also selfish and oblivious, and Ryan had enough of that with his mother. He didn't want to think about Marissa anymore.

He wanted to think about Anna and how beautiful she looked.

"Hey…Summer, you look…beautiful," Seth said coming down the stairs.

"Thanks," she blushed and smiled at him.

"You look nice Anna," he added.

"Thanks Seth, the Jewfro looks good tonight," she answered.

"Anna, Summer," Sandy came into the living room and smiled at the girls. "Looking sharp tonight kids."

"Are we going?" Seth asked.

"As soon as your mother is ready," Sandy replied.

"Settle in, it's going to be awhile," Seth said.

"I heard that," Kirsten's indignant voice floated in from the stairs. "I'm ready. Girls, you both look beautiful tonight."

"You too Mrs. Cohen," Summer piped up. Kirsten beamed and accepted Sandy's arm which he had extended to her and they walked out to the car that was waiting for them. Caleb had sent a car so that all six could ride together to the party. Seth had griped about this, wanting to be able to instead drive Summer and Anna to the party himself. Ryan had shrugged, his normal response when asked an opinion, and had thought that riding together might be nice. He didn't dare say this to Seth, who was still, up until the girls had gotten there, complaining about having to ride with his parents and girlfriend.

"I have a present for you," Anna whispered as everyone figured out seating arrangements and the driver closed the door and climbed into the driver's seat. "I'll give it to you later?" Ryan nodded.

"I have something for you too," he told her. Anna grinned and turned her attention the conversation between Summer and Kirsten about their respective dresses and jewelry. Ryan grinned to himself. So far, he thought, so good.

* * *

Sandy told Ryan to go to Kirsten's office where it was quiet to exchange gifts with Anna, and Ryan had thanked him and led Anna upstairs.

"This is Kirsten's office?" Anna asked, looking wide-eyed at the lavish office. "Great view." She ran a hand along the smooth wood of the desk and picked up one of the picture frames. "Oh my God! Little Seth! Look how big his hair was." Ryan came up behind her and glanced at the picture in her hand. It was of Sandy with a three-year-old Seth on his lap reading a book. "And you! Look at you!" She picked up another one of Ryan and Kirsten a few weeks after the accident, sitting on the back patio. Neither had been aware that Sandy was taking it. Ryan hadn't known that Kirsten had pictures of him in her office and he couldn't help but admit that it felt good. She had included him. Anna placed the frames in their rightful spots and turned to Ryan.

"I guess we should exchange gifts now?" He suggested. He handed her the present that he had gotten her, and in return she handed him a perfectly wrapped box. Anna went first, tearing open the paper on the bigger package, she pulled out a book.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed looking at it. "It's Pittsburgh." Ryan had found a book of photos of Pittsburgh then and now and thought it would be something that Anna would like, and he was glad, judging by her reaction, that he had been right. "Oh, I miss the snow." She turned the pictures wistfully. "Every year downtown, they put up this exhibit of Santas from around the world. You know, like the Irish Santa, the Italian Santa. We go every year, even though it never changes. Christmas just isn't the same without the Santas, you know?" She threw her arms around him, startling him at first. "Thank you so much!"

"There's something else, something little," Ryan said pointing to the smaller package. Anna nodded and opened the small box to reveal a simple charm bracelet with a tiny silver sailboat.

"It's beautiful, thank you," she told him leaning over to give him a kiss. Ryan blushed and nearly forgot that she had gotten him something in return until she instructed him to open his. He obliged, carefully opening the paper and inside the box was a book on architecture. He didn't say anything at first, and Anna nervously bit her lip. "Kirsten said that you showed an interest in architecture?"

"I did, I do…thank you," he said flipping through.

"Good," Anna said nodding. "I'm glad that you like it." Impulsively, she leaned in and gave him a kiss. "Merry Chrismukkah Ryan." She beamed at him and he couldn't help but mirror her grin.

"Merry Chrismukkah Anna," he replied leaning in to kiss her again.

Merry Chrismukkah indeed. Oh yeah, Christmas in Newport was shaping up to be much better than any Christmas in Chino. Much, much better.


End file.
